Frontier Airlines President and CEO Barry Biffle attends a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights on September 30, 2025 in Washington.
Kent Nishimura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Frontier Group HoldingsFrontier, the parent company of low-cost airline Frontier, has replaced Barry Biffle as the airline’s president after nearly a decade as CEO, the company announced Monday.
James Dempsey will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.
“Jimmy has been a valued member of Frontier’s senior management team for more than a decade, during which time he has played a critical role in the company’s evolution and growth,” Board Chairman Bill Franke said in a news release. “I believe Jimmy is uniquely qualified to lead our airline into the future.”
Mr. Biffle and Mr. Frontier declined to comment. Frontier said Biffle would remain in an “advisory capacity” until the end of the year.
Biffle, who has been Frontier’s chief executive since March 2016, has a more than 30-year career in the airline industry, including at Spirit, the nation’s longtime top low-cost carrier, which is now in bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year.
Frontier posted a loss of $190 million in the first nine months of this year, compared with a net profit of $31 million in the year-ago period.
Frontier has held several merger talks with Spirit since early 2022, but so far nothing has been finalized.
Small, low-cost airlines like Frontier have struggled to turn a steady profit after the pandemic, as rising labor and other costs, a shift in consumer tastes toward international travel and premium seating, and overcapacity on domestic flights have hurt their performance.
Biffle has led some of Frontier’s efforts in recent months to respond to customers demanding more space on planes.
Frontier stock has fallen nearly 19% so far this year. NYSE Arca Airline Indexis primarily tracking U.S. airlines and is up more than 6%.
