"Our first priority is to communicate with our customers and make sure we are doing everything possible to minimize the disruption to their travel plans," said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Potter. "At this point, we are still assessing the damage and working with various vendors to secure parts for the damaged aircraft. We anticipate one airplane could be back into service today or tomorrow, but do not know how long the other three aircraft will be out of service. It is difficult to estimate the financial impact at this point, but we will incur uninsured costs associated with repairing the aircraft that could total as much as $750,000. In addition, depending on how long these aircraft are out of service for repairs, we anticipate additional costs associated with reprotecting our customers, as well as a loss of revenue associated with the cancellation of flights."

Denver-based Frontier Airlines serves 23 cities coast to coast with a fleet of 27 aircraft and employs approximately 2,500 aviation professionals. The airline is the second largest jet service carrier of Denver International Airport with an average of 120 daily systemwide departures and arrivals. Frontier Airlines recently introduced its own frequent flyer program, EarlyReturns, which offers one of the fastest return programs in the industry. In June 2001, BusinessWeek ranked Frontier 14^th on its list of Hot Growth Companies. In 1999 and 2000, Frontier’s maintenance and engineering department received the Federal Aviation Administration’s highest award, the Diamond Certificate of Excellence, with 100 percent of its maintenance and engineering employees completing advanced aircraft maintenance training programs. Frontier provides capacity and other data and industry comparisons on its Web site, which may be viewed at www.frontierairlines.com.