The new Frontier crew base in Puerto Rico's San Juan (above) is expected to host as many as 90 pilots and 200 flight attendants within a year of opening.
U.S. ULCC Frontier Airlines will open a crew base at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in June, further establishing its presence at the airport.
The airline, which operates 14 nonstop routes from SJU, expects to base as many as 90 pilots and 200 flight attendants at the airport within a year of its opening.
Frontier notes it has more than doubled capacity to and from the island since 2019. In addition to SJU, the Denver-based carrier operates from both Ponce and Aguadilla in Puerto Rico to Orlando, Florida.
“Our base will provide significant economic impact and new jobs for Puerto Ricans,” Frontier CEO Barry Biffle says in a statement. “A crew base also helps support smooth flight operations—benefiting customers flying to and from the island who will have access to a wide variety of destinations, including a number of underserved markets, as we continue to grow our Puerto Rico operations.”
Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi says Frontier opening a crew base at SJU “is another positive milestone for the development of our tourism industry,” adding: “Frontier is betting on Puerto Rico by contributing to the creation of jobs and the injection of additional funds into our economy.”
Carlos Mercado Santiago, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, says the crew base will “result in the strategic positioning of the destination as the main access axis in the Caribbean region and an ideal place to make investments at both a domestic and international level.”
SJU handled 12.2 million passengers in 2023, up 18.3% over 2022. Frontier’s routes from SJU include four to Florida: Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
San Juan will be Frontier’s 13th crew base when it opens in June. In May, the airline will open a crew base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), planning to base 80 pilots and 160 flight attendants at CVG by May 2025.
Also in May, Frontier, an all-Airbus A320-family aircraft operator, will reopen a crew base in Chicago serving both Midway and O’Hare airports. The base closed in April 2022. Frontier expects to employ 110 pilots at the Chicago base by May 2025.
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