Frontier Airlines axes its customer service helpline

Finding help at Frontier Airlines might become a challenge.

The airline got rid of its customer service phone line, Frontier said. Passengers will no longer be able to call about reservations, or more urgent issues such as delays, cancellations and lost bags.

Instead, Frontier passengers needing assistance will have to use an online chatbot, a 24/7 live chat available on the airline's website, social media channels or WhatsApp, the airline said.

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The phone line was eliminated last week, CNN reported, ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel period.

"We have found that most customers prefer communicating via digital channels," an airline spokesperson said in a statement provided to TPG, noting that customers could still use those options to "get the information they need as expeditiously and efficiently as possible."

Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier is known for cost-cutting, like several other ULCCs. However, the elimination of phone-based customer service is a fairly unusual measure. It appeared to be the first time that a U.S. airline had entirely cut its customer service hotline.

Frontier was not, however, the only airline to operate without phone-based customer service. Breeze Airways, the new ULCC startup from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, has relied on online chat since its 2021 debut. The airline does not have a reservations or customer service phone line.

The change at Frontier comes as rival ULCC Spirit Airlines works to merge with JetBlue — after Spirit's shareholders rejected an earlier bid by Frontier. The merger, if approved by regulators, would see JetBlue absorb Spirit's employees and aircraft under its own brand, essentially ending Spirit and making Frontier the primary American ULCC.