The nation’s cheapest airline is getting even more expensive.
Frontier Airlines reported in its latest earnings call that the average amount it collected per passenger for airfare jumped 71% in the third quarter. That’s up $67.82 compared to $39.74 from just a year earlier.
Here’s the breakdown: Frontier collected $28.08 more per passenger from airfare alone while other fees — like checked and carry-on luggage — played a smaller role. Revenue from fees and other sources jumped by $3.70 per passenger.
The bare-bones airline collected more cash overall as total revenue per passenger climbed from $106.44 to $138.22.
However, this doesn’t mean that every ticket price rose by 71%. It simply means they collected more per customer overall. But the budget carrier is not necessarily profiting from the increase, as soaring fuel costs pushed its quarterly net loss to $104 million.
Despite rising airline prices, passengers continue to book. Frontier reported an 18% increase in passengers — up 1.5 million from last year. The added customers can be linked to the collapse of Spirit Airlines back in May.
According to consumer-spending data from Consumer Edge, from May through September 2026, Frontier was able to grab former Spirit passengers. In fact, the airline secured Spirit customers six times the rate its size would predict by offering huge discounts — up to 50% off base fares — to help those who were affected.
Frontier also scooped up extra travelers by adding routes and flights in markets that Spirit had previously served, as the low-cost airline had more route overlap with Spirit than any other US carrier.
However, the ultra-low-cost carrier said that while higher prices were not negatively impacting customer bookings, Frontier still took a loss.
The company reported a net loss of $104 million compared with a $77 million loss from a year earlier as its fuel bill increased by 82% to $425 million. The Colorado-based airline recorded a major risk — $134 million — as it returned its Airbus aircraft.
The largest factor for higher prices — the Iran war. Jet fuel prices have surged by about 86% since the Iran war began back in February. Before the war, prices were about $2.39 a gallon, while they currently sit at $4.44 per gallon.
Frontier said that the record-high jet fuel prices were its highest cost after labor and continue to chip away at profits.
So what does this mean for your holiday travel plans? The Post recently broke down the best time to book based on recent data from Google.
The global tech company used five years of its own aggregated data and found that the best time to travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas is in October.
For Turkey Day, Google found the lowest prices are 34 days before departure — with the cheapest price range being 21–57 days.
Cheaper Christmas bookings saw a bit of a difference this year as the new data revealed the most affordable prices hit 56 days before departure — with the lowest price range between 33–67 days.
This means that the best deals fall between late October and mid-November — about five days earlier than last year.
