Frontier Airlines pilot Justin Grant had two dreams as a kid: for the Cincinnati Bengals to win a Super Bowl and to fly out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport as a pilot.
With Frontier Airlines recently opening a crew base at CVG, Grant can check off one of those boxes.
The new crew base at CVG is expected to employ 80 pilots and 160 flight attendants. Additionally, the carrier is expected to generate nearly $27 million annually in local wages, according to a CVG press release. The airline first announced its intention to open a crew base at the airport in November.
Grant said the new crew base will allow pilots and stewardesses to spend more time with their families.
“From outside looking in, it’s hard to express how big of a deal this is for our pilots,” Grant said. “Many of them spend two or three days a week just commuting to their base that’s two to three days away from your family – they don’t get to see their kids and you can see their spouses. Now they can drive to work, they can be home every night.”
Frontier Airlines is a discount carrier based in Denver. Since it was first introduced at CVG in 2013, it has rapidly expanded operations, eventually claiming the title of the airport’s fastest-growing domestic airline. The airline currently provides service to 12 U.S. airports and plans to add service to seven more.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the crew base opening, CVG CEO Candance McGraw said the introduction of Frontier Airlines helped change the airport’s competitive trajectory.
“Up until that time in May of 2013, we had not had a successful cost carrier in the history of this airport,” McGraw said. “Then with Frontier starting at that time, with only six flights a week to Denver, it really changed the competitive environment this here.”
Steve Schuller, senior vice president of human resources at Frontier Airlines, said the airline expects to nearly triple in size in the coming years, with CVG playing a key role.
“We hope to triple in size and as an airline in six to eight years – tripled the size of the airline,” he said. “We have a lot of that growth come through the Cincinnati area because we are excited by the growth. It’s going to allow us to connect, more people, more places more frequently with that great service that we’re known for.”
