ULCC Frontier Airlines needs to emphasise newfound stability ahead of a potential IPO

Frontier Airlines has probably undergone more changes during the last eight to nine years than any other US airline. It emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, and tried out numerous network strategies, including small city and secondary markets such as Trenton New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware.

The airline was purchased by Indigo Partners in late 2014 and embarked on its transition to an ultra-low cost airline, which is now complete. Similarly to its ULCC counterpart Spirit, Frontier has had some management shake-ups during the last year but its executive team seems stable, for now. At the end of 2015 reports surfaced that Frontier's owners were considering an initial public offering (IPO), and more recently the idea of taking the airline public seems to be gaining momentum. It is an interesting move, given the industry sentiment where some airlines believe their stock is trading at a discount, but Frontier has a healthy Airbus order book; one possible motivation for an IPO.