Frontier Airlines President/CEO and Niwot local Barry Biffle leads company through pandemic

Airlines have been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic and Frontier Airlines President and CEO Barry Biffle is leading the charge with precautions as travel slowly increases. "It's been pretty tough on the industry overall," said Biffle, a Niwot resident. He remains hopeful that Frontier will emerge strong and continue to serve Colorado and beyond.

Despite rigorous precautions, the airline industry has struggled with stay at home orders enveloping the country. Fortunately for Frontier, Biffle said they cater mostly to domestic leisure travel, which is slowly beginning to return. Another reason to fly is for business, and that population remains "largely non-existent" according to Biffle. Frontier isn't as hurt in this sector with only about 5% of their customers travelling for business.

"If you're an airline that is dependent upon business travel, then obviously it's a very difficult time for you," he said. "But fortunately with our business model and catering to travelers that want good value, we've bounced back a lot lately. We're very optimistic about the future. ...We're majority domestic U.S., so with less than 20% of our travel outside the United States, we're not as impacted as some of the carriers that have a large portion of their network being international."

Biffle began preparing for the coronavirus in January when he bought his employees 300,000 masks. The down-to-earth airline CEO was thought to be overreacting at the time.

"We were actually really early in terms of being able to respond to it (COVID-19) and we were following it pretty carefully," he said. "And quite honestly, there were a lot of people that told me I was crazy at the time."

His precautions continued and on June 1, Frontier became the first airline to implement a passenger temperature check. The Denver-based airline also requires a health certification form acknowledging that you don't have any symptoms and did not come into contact with anyone who has in the last two weeks. Biffle is thankful for his employees embracing new roles during the pandemic.

"We're just really proud of all of our employees doing a great job of making sure that everybody stays safe during coronavirus," Biffle said.

On board, they've brought along a fogging disenfectant and a HEPA air filtration system that recirculates and brings in fresh, outdoor air.

"Within like five minutes you're actually down to only one quarter of the (original) air," Biffle said. "It makes it especially when you turn your vent on. The odds of contracting it (COVID-19) is very low. In fact, we're unaware of anyone contracting COVID(-19) on an airplane, at least ours."

Biffle has an extra incentive for precaution as his 12-year-old son is immunocompromised. Their family has always been careful and even skipped Christmas last year when a family member was sick. Biffle's caution has translated to his job out of necessity.

"Probably the reason why Frontier was probably ahead of this in many ways (was) because I have to be conscious," he said. "He can't be around anyone that even has a cold."

Biffle believes Niwot's discipline to social distance and every day precautions has led to a low number of local cases. Although he would like to see that routine practiced more throughout the country, he is grateful that Niwot has taken the situation so seriously.

"Compliance here is like 95%," Biffle said. "I think a lot of people were very respectful and they understand in Niwot that I have to wear a mask to protect you and you have to wear a mask to protect me, and it's more important that I wear a mask. I just think people that live in Niwot are generally pretty conscious of their decisions and how that impacts their neighbors and I think that that's made a big difference."

Colorado has always been close to Frontier's heart and Biffle said his relationship with Governor Jared Polis has been strong throughout the pandemic. Biffle has been proud of Colorado's urgency to combat the virus and with the help of local leaders, emerge safely with minimal economic hardship.

"We're just really proud to be a Colorado company," Biffle said.