Frontier Airlines cancels three flights permanently, offers refunds

Since launching out of Denver in 1998, budget carrier Frontier Airlines eventually expanded to serve over 100 destinations in the U.S. as well as a number of international cities in the tropics.While it grew its network by flying between smaller cities often not lucrative enough for mainstream airlines, Frontier has in recent years made a major push to expand internationally across Mexico and the Caribbean.At the start of the week, the airline announced five new flights to tropical destinations like Nassau, St. Maarten and San José Del Cabo from Atlanta while following with new plans to start flying Guatemala City and San Salvador from Houston all before the end of the year a few days later.But even amid such expansion, Frontier has also been exiting markets it deems unprofitable. As first reported by local outlet HeraldNet, the carrier is canceling all three of its routes out of Paine Field Airport (PAE) in northwestern Washington State just seven months after launching.Frontier says demand in Paine Field "not sufficient enough to maintain the service"The three affected routes into the city of Everett 30 miles north of Seattle had been running twice a week each from Denver International (DEN), Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) and Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas since Frontier entered this new market to much fanfare about flying directly into the suburb in June 2025.At the time, Frontier Senior Manager of Network Planning Stephen Shaw spoke of "strong unmet demand for low fares in this region [...] and for most people in this area."Related: Key travel brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy"It is fair to say the passenger demand wasn't sufficient to maintain the service," Frontier spokesperson Jennifer De La Cruz told HeraldNet in a statement. "[...] We greatly value our partnership with Paine Field and, as with any market departure, we will continue to evaluate a potential return at some point in the future."Locals were the first to notice that tickets for the route had stopped being available for sale on Frontier's website. The last flights are scheduled to run on January 5, 2026 while the market exit leaves Alaska Airlines as the only commercial airline to serve Paine Field. Paine Field is a smaller regional airport north of SeaTac.Shutterstock Frontier flight out of Everett already booked? Here is what you need to doFor affected travelers, Frontier has a policy in which any ticket within seven days of the travel date can be automatically returned for a full refund to the original form of payment.Travel News:Major airline launches surprising flight between Las Vegas and ParisUnited Airlines CEO gives stark warning on Olympic GamesThe highest rooftop in Barcelona is in a surprising placeUS government issues sudden warning on Switzerland travelThis applies to both travelers with the lowest fare canceling for their personal reasons and planned cancelations part of network changes or otherwise within the airline's control; as the last flights are still two weeks away, anyone with travel on them booked beyond that can either initiate the refund automatically on the Frontier website or wait to be contacted by the airline."Refunds will be issued to the original form of payment either upon request or automatically after the scheduled departure date," Frontier writes of its policy. "Refunds will be processed within seven business days."Related: 100-year-old travel company leaving country, winding down operations