CEO wants tourists to feel safe

Frontier ready with new safety protocols

With tourism at a standstill in Las Vegas, Frontier Airlines plans to help promote visitation to the city once the resort corridor begins to reopen.

Mccarran International Airport’s fifth-busiest carrier, according to March data, is all in to help bring travelers back to Southern Nevada once the Gaming Control Board approves resort properties’ plans for reopening.

Frontier President and CEO Barry Biffle made a quick stop in Las Vegas on Monday, meeting with resort and travel partners to talk about how they will reopen Las Vegas and how Frontier can help.

“The No. 1 thing I think people are looking for today is to make sure that all of us in the travel community are keeping them safe,” Biffle told the Las Vegas Review-journal.

“Unless we keep people safe, we can’t get them to come back to Vegas. If we can’t get them to come back to Vegas, we’re going to have unemployment for a long time. So, we’re just trying to do our part to get the economy back going.”

Frontier has taken a layered approach to its safety protocols, starting with HEPA filtration systems and increased cleaning and sanitation measures. It also was among the first airlines in the U.S. to require masks for passengers, and it plans to add thermal testing of passengers and customers beginning June 1.

“This layered approach, coupled

with the temperature measurement we’re going to do in a few weeks, we believe is what people need to feel safe,” Biffle said.

Although Frontier is the first carrier at Mccarran to announce temperature requirements (anyone with a 100.4 temperature or above won’t be allowed to fly or work), Biffle said the Transportation Security Administration should take the lead on the safety measure.

“We would love for TSA and the airports to do it (temperature check),” he said. “We think it should be done at the curb. Unfortunately, we can’t catch everybody at the different entrances; it’s not our property, either. What we can do is guarantee that once you get on board our aircraft no one is going to have a fever on board.”

With air travel taking a huge hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Frontier’s passenger volume in Las

Vegas saw an 11 percent decrease in March compared with March 2019, and a larger drop is expected when April data is released this month by the Clark County Department of Aviation.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.