January 08, 2019
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
A Frontier Airlines plane lands at the Philadelphia International Airport.
Frontier Airlines, the budget aircraft carrier with an ever-growing footprint in Philadelphia, has five new routes out of Philadelphia International Airport on the docket in 2019.
The airline has grown quite a bit since 2014, when its only trips from of PHL were to Punta Cana and Cancun. Over the last five years, a total 29 new destinations have been added to Frontier's roster of flights from PHL. Among them are itineraries to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida.; Atlanta, and Las Vegas, all announced this week.
The new trips begin late April and early May, which will mark Frontier Airline's status as the second largest nonstop carrier out of PHL, behind American Airlines. As many as 19 Frontier flights will depart PHL daily.
Tickets for the new routes are already on sale, with some perks for early shoppers. Now through Wednesday, one-way fares will be sold out of PHL for as low as $29-$59 one way.
Along with the new options in Philadelphia, Frontier is adding Boston to its operations, marking its 106th city on its route map. Direct flights from Raleigh/Durham will also fly to Albany, New York; Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; Jacksonville, Florida; and Long Island/Islip, New York, as well as Philadelphia.
Announcements for this year's travel updates are also met with the airline's controversial practice of encouraging customers to tip its flight attendants. Frontier first introduced tipping three years ago, giving a gratuity option on the onboard tablet. Flight attendants made a push this year to collect their tips individually, rather than split in the tips in one pool, though many think the policy of tipping is unjust.
The Association of Flight Attendants International, representing 50,000 flight attendants, opposes it, contending the option hurts attendants' contract negotiations. Representatives from Frontier have said that tipping is optional and that tips serves as an additional income on top of a fair wage.
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