DUBAI -- Frontier Airlines' new merchandising model is bound to fail, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby opined on Monday.
Spirit Airlines, too, will fail if it takes a similar approach, said Kirby.
During a Q&A session with the media at the IATA Annual General Meeting, Kirby was asked about whether Frontier's recent changes will work. Besides introducing bundled fares, Frontier has pivoted away from leisure routes that have a glut of capacity in favor of taking on major U.S. airlines on select non-leisure routes.
Kirby said Monday that it was folly for Frontier to upend its business model. He characterized Frontier as an airline with a "low-cost, leisure, bare-bones, screw-the-customer culture."
"Pretending that you're a business airline is not going to work," he said.
Kirby said, "You can't totally uproot your business model. Yeah, it wasn't working very well. But their business model is flying low-cost, price-sensitive leisure customers."
Frontier CEO Barry Biffle poked back at Kirby in a brief statement.
"United must be feeling some pressure," Biffle said. "We wish them well."
Under Frontier's new model, the discount carrier is selling three bundled fares at the start of its booking path. Previously, Frontier had been emphasizing low base fares that can be augmented with a variety of ancillary products.
Frontier's new bundles are designed to mimic what a flyer would receive from a full-service airline for an economy or extra-legroom seat. The Denver-based carrier is also selling a business bundle, which includes a front-row aisle or window seat next to an open middle seat, along with two checked bags and early boarding.
Like Frontier, Spirit did away with change and cancellation fees last month. Spirit also is evaluating merchandising changes to better appeal to high-end flyers. Travel Weekly has emailed Spirit for comment about what Kirby said at the IATA conference.
This isn't the first time Kirby has been outspoken about the ultralow-cost carriers. During an earnings call in January 2023, he argued that dynamics in the U.S. airline industry had undergone a structural change to favor full-service carriers like United over ultralow-cost airlines.
Though his remarks could be viewed as self-serving, they've so far proven to be prescient, as Spirit and Frontier have each piled up quarterly losses in the 2020s.
Frontier operated under a conventional business model for its first 20 years of operation but converted to an ultralow-cost carrier model after Indigo Partners acquired Frontier in 2013.