Frontier Airlines has joined JetBlue and Spirit Airlines in deferring deliveries of A320neo family jets due to rising costs and weaker-than-expected demand.
In its second-quarter earnings release, the Denver-based low-cost carrier revealed that 54 aircraft scheduled for delivery between 2025 and 2028 have been delayed until 2029 and beyond.
In 2025 and 2026 alone, Frontier will receive 42 fewer jets than previously planned. In 2029, however, the airline has increased deliveries from 22 to 36 aircraft, with the remaining 40 in subsequent years.
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Frontier also revealed that it will not order the A321XLR, the ultra-long-range variant of the narrow-body jet. In June, the airline confirmed to Airbus that the 18 optional orders will be converted to other aircraft.
With a fleet of 150 Airbus planes, 142 of which are from the A320neo family, Frontier has chosen to equip them with two types of engines, the Leap-1A on the A320neo and the PW1133G-JM on the A321neo.
The Pratt & Whitney turbofan has been the focus of a major recall due to a manufacturing defect in some parts that forced the aircraft to be grounded while a fix was made.
JetBlue and Spirit cited the problem as one of the reasons for delaying deliveries because they cannot afford to keep new planes unflyable for long periods of time.
While revenue is thwarted for Airbus, the planemaker has at least gained some relief in the waiting list for A320neo jets, which had an order book with more than 7,000 aircraft pending delivery by July.
