Here's Why Shares in Frontier Group Flew Lower This Week
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By Lee Samaha – Dec 18, 2025 at 3:12PM ESTKey PointsThe sudden departure of its CEO raised eyebrows this week. Frontier is trying to follow the playbook of network carriers. These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: ULCCFrontier GroupMarket Cap$1.2BToday's Changeangle-down(-2.06%) $0.10Current Price$4.98Price as of December 18, 2025 at 4:00 PM ETThe budget airline is operating in a challenging environment.Shares in Frontier Airlines' parent company, Frontier Group (ULCC 2.06%), declined by almost 13% in the week to Thursday afternoon. The slump in the share price came in a week when the company issued an SEC filing announcing the abrupt departure of its CEO, Barry Biffle, to be replaced by the company's President James Dempsey, who will act as interim CEO. What it means to investors It's hard to decipher what these move means, not least because, although Biffle will "remain with the Company in an advisory capacity", that period will only last two weeks. Go figure. ExpandNASDAQ: ULCCFrontier GroupToday's Change(-2.06%) $-0.10Current Price$4.98Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.2BDay's Range$4.96 - $5.2252wk Range$2.89 - $10.26Volume3.9MAvg Vol4.1MGross Margin1.93% On a more positive note, management reaffirmed the guidance it provided for the fourth quarter in early November. Biffle's sudden departure comes at a difficult time for Frontier and the low-cost carriers in general. Budget airlines have been hit by rising labor and airport costs, which have a disproportionate impact on their ticket prices when compared to network carriers like Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Moreover, it remains a highly price-competitive market for the budget carriers. All of which led to Frontier reporting a loss of $77 million in its third quarter. Image source: Getty Images. In response, Frontier is trying to follow the Delta/United's premium/loyalty playbook and introducing new first class seating and trying to grow loyalty revenues, amid keeping a tight control on capacity.Advertisement Still, it's never a good sign for an airline when the cost per available seat mile excluding fuel (CASM-Ex) is growing faster than the revenue per available seat mile (RASM), as is the case with Frontier in 2025 , and budget airlines continue to face a challenging environment. Read NextDec 16, 2025 •By Rich SmithWhy Frontier Group Stock Just CrashedDec 12, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Frontier Group Holdings Stock Cruised 11% Higher This WeekSep 2, 2025 •By Lou WhitemanWhy Frontier Group Is Flying High TodaySep 11, 2024 •By Lou WhitemanWhy Frontier Group Stock Is Flying High TodayMay 2, 2024 •By Lou WhitemanWhy April Was a Miserable Month for Discount Airline StocksMar 4, 2024 •By Lou WhitemanWhy Frontier Stock Is Flying High TodayAbout the AuthorLee Samaha is a contributing Stock Market Analyst at The Motley Fool covering industrials, electricals, energy, materials, transportation, and infrastructure stocks. Prior to The Motley Fool, Lee was a Civil Engineer and Investment Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Civil and Structural Engineering from Southampton University and a Certificate in Investment Management from Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. Lee first cut his investing teeth on The Motley Fool bulletin boards (commonly referred to as the “Fool Boards,”) and he’s infinitely grateful to all of the investors he learned from in this powerful investing community.TMFSaintGermainX@LeeSamahaStocks MentionedFrontier GroupNASDAQ: ULCC$4.98 (0.02%) $0.10Delta Air LinesNYSE: DAL$70.15 (+0.01%) $+0.43United AirlinesNASDAQ: UAL$112.85 (+0.02%) $+2.58*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.Advertisement