I found THIS  short story on Republic Airways and noticed the elevation of a Frontier executive to VP in charge of branding and marketing.  Ian Arthur, the man who oversaw development of the animal campaign(s) at Frontier has been put in charge of branding and marketing for Republic’s two branded airlines:  Frontier and Midwest.

Republic plans to unveil a new “face” for these two airlines blending the “best of both” airlines together.  Quite a few people may hope for something with Frontier’s flair or Midwest’s comfort but I think a third thing is going to happen. 

I suspect we’ll see a harmonization that relies on commonality for aircraft and that means Frontier probably returns to more of a traditional 2 class model and Midwest see its brand go away both in name and colors.  Republic uses its fleet of regional jet aircraft to augment these airlines  and they can’t afford to configure either to fit a highly distinguished brand. 

I suspect LiveTV might well go away because I’m skeptical that Republic wants to fit that product to their E-170/E-190 fleet.  What I really suspect is going to happen is we’ll see the Frontier name but the brand turned into a vastly more generic experience for passengers.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax