Airfares for the cheapest U.S. airline jumped in price this year, but that hasn’t stopped fliers from booking.
In its third-quarter earnings report published on Wednesday, Frontier Airlines revealed that its ticket prices have surged. The airline’s fare revenue per passenger jumped from $39.74 to $67.82 in Q3—a 71% increase. That metric looks at ticket prices alone and doesn’t factor in the add-on costs passengers might pay for things like upgrades and checked luggage.
Frontier’s total revenue per passenger rose 30% during the same time frame, from $106.44 to $138.22, while its non-fare revenue per passenger stayed relatively flat, growing only 7% during that period. More people flew Frontier compared with the same quarter in 2025, with its passenger load rising 18%, from 8.33 million to 9.81 million.
“Frontier’s revenue execution in a higher-than-expected fuel environment resulted in an adjusted profit, meaningfully above the company’s guidance and Wall Street estimates,” Frontier CEO James Dempsey said in the report, with a nod to the company’s efforts to keep costs down. Frontier is also benefiting from the recent demise of its low-cost competitor, Spirit Airlines, which imploded earlier this year.
In the third quarter, Frontier posted record revenue of $1.4 billion, a 53% increase compared with the same quarter last year. The airline credited strong demand and “continued execution” of its commercial strategy for the growth, and it ended the quarter with $1.18 billion in total liquidity.
“These results reflect the successful progression of the company’s strategic initiatives set out earlier this year, and it gives us confidence in our ability to translate our momentum into sustainable profitability,” Dempsey said.
Fliers foot the bill
The high cost of jet fuel is a major travel theme in 2026. Prices soared after the start of the U.S. war in Iran, dipped briefly midyear, and then rose again. To cover their rising costs, airlines have passed the bill to passengers for the most part, with ticket prices trending upward—a trend that frequent fliers frequently bemoan.
In the U.S., airfare rose by more than 20% from January to September of this year, a number that’s risen much faster than consumer prices on the whole. Most airlines have opted to raise ticket prices and fly with emptier planes rather than trying to make up for the lost profit by luring more fliers in with reduced fares.
Even with the number of fliers basically staying flat, passenger revenue increased by almost $8.8 billion across United, American, Delta, Southwest, and Alaska—the five biggest carriers in the U.S.—in the third quarter compared with a year earlier. And it’s not just Frontier breaking revenue records. In spite of high fuel prices, American made company history with record revenue numbers in Q2, a feat the airline credited to “strong demand” for its product and “solid commercial execution.”
