Low-cost airline Frontier Airlines again requests IPO

Frontier Airlines filed an IPO on Monday, a second attempt at public disclosure that comes as the industry positions itself for a rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline is owned by private equity firm Indigo Partners, whose managing partner is airline industry veteran and low-cost pioneer Bill Franke, chairman of Frontier Airlines.

Airlines are bracing for a rebound in travel demand after U.S. passenger levels fell more than 60% last year, to the lowest level since 1984.

Budget airlines with models similar to Frontier’s have been among the most optimistic about the recovery. Rival Spirit Airlines, for example, is starting to start hiring pilots and flight attendants again this month. Domestic leisure travel, which these airlines were already focusing on before the pandemic, is rebounding faster than business and international travel.

Frontier suffered a loss of $ 225 million in 2020 on revenue of $ 1.25 billion, compared to net profit of $ 251 million on revenue of $ 2.5 billion a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing Monday.

The company abandoned plans to go public last summer after filing in 2017.

The Denver-based airline plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol FRNT.