Let’s start with this: management won’t commit to maintaining two pilots on the flight deck. Why? Because, they claim, it would put them at a “competitive disadvantage.” Safety experts agree, the most important safety feature on any commercial aircraft is two well-trained, well-rested professional pilots. They provide redundancy and are critical to public trust. Frontier management wants flexibility to reduce the most essential safeguard in commercial aviation.
In their proposal, management also removed a provision that would require them to commit to continuing to be a U.S.-based carrier. If Frontier Airlines refuses to agree to continue to base their business in the U.S. and won’t commit to having two pilots in their flight deck, what are their intentions?
These bargaining positions—combined with Frontier’s newfound participation in the Association of Valued Airlines (AVA)—give us great concern. Management's refusal to contractually codify acceptance of laws protecting cabotage and aircraft certification standards begs the question: what will AVA be lobbying for on Capitol Hill? It certainly doesn’t appear that they are fighting for stronger domestic job opportunities, U.S. pilot careers, or safety protections.
Their Words, Their Actions
Process matters. And the way the management handled this proposal says everything.
When ALPA submitted a full Scope proposal over a year ago, we offered clear, structured language to protect Frontier flying, prevent fragmentation, and ensure merger-related protections. Management had every opportunity to respond with tracked edits, proposed changes, or a structured counteroffer.
Instead, they wiped entire sections, refused to mark changes, and eliminated nearly every provision aimed at protecting pilot jobs. There was no explanation. No markup. No discussion. Just a document designed to look like a proposal—without owning any of the consequences of what they deleted.
ALPA legal counsel has since notified management that this conduct is unacceptable and violates the expectations of acceptable protocols in bargaining. If Frontier can’t even stand behind their own document tracks and deletions in writing, what does that say about their intentions at the table?
No Grievances? No Problem?
When we questioned their decision to gut the Scope section, management’s counsel offered a telling response:
“We think that the Scope section has served the parties well and we haven’t seen significant issues or disputes to date…”
In other words, the absence of grievances means there’s nothing to fix. No problems, no need to strengthen protections.
It’s a stunningly cynical take. Scope isn’t designed to wait for damage before it matters; it exists to prevent harm before it happens. The fact that we haven’t needed to grieve Scope violations is not an argument against strengthening it.?Stabilizing career protections does not happen by accident. They happen when boundaries are clearly drawn.
This Isn’t About Cost—It’s About Control
Make no mistake: ALPA’s Scope proposal doesn’t add cost to Frontier’s operation today. What it does is draw a line around the work that belongs to this pilot group. It’s about securing a future for you, your family, and the pilots who follow.
Management’s refusal to engage on language that protects flying, blocks outsourcing, and ensures we are part of any future transaction makes their position clear. When it comes to the future, they want complete flexibility. They want control. And they do not want Frontier pilots in the room when they make decisions that affect our livelihoods.
Where We Go From Here
Other airlines have closed deals that offer real security and career progression. At Frontier, we continue to face resistance, not because we’re asking for too much, but because management refuses to see pilots as stakeholders.
We will continue to push forward. We document every refusal. We expose every bad faith maneuver, and we will continue to demand a contract that protects our work, honors the profession, and recognizes reality. We will not allow a dystopian future where we exist as a labor group without a voice.
Stay strong. Stay informed. Stay unified.
In Unity,
Your FFT Negotiating Committee