Frontier Group Holdings, the parent company of budget airline Frontier Airlines, announced Monday that longtime CEO Barry Biffle has been replaced by the carrier’s president, James Dempsey, who will serve as interim CEO immediately.
Board Chair Bill Franke praised Dempsey’s decade-long tenure with the airline, saying he has played a central role in Frontier’s growth and is well-positioned to lead the company forward. Biffle will remain with Frontier in an advisory role through the end of the year.
Biffle has led Frontier since March 2016 and brings over 30 years of experience in the airline industry, including time at Spirit Airlines, which is now in its second bankruptcy in under a year. Frontier has faced financial challenges, reporting a $190 million loss in the first nine months of 2025 compared with $31 million in net income during the same period a year earlier.
The airline had explored merger talks with Spirit several times since 2022, but no deal has materialized. Like other smaller budget carriers, Frontier has struggled with rising labor costs, shifts in consumer travel preferences, and an oversupply of domestic flights following the pandemic.
In recent months, Frontier under Biffle had introduced initiatives to offer passengers more space on board. Frontier’s stock has fallen nearly 19% this year, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index, which tracks mostly U.S. carriers, has risen more than 6%.