Frontier announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with lessor AerCap to return nearly 14% of the aircraft currently in its fleet early.
The 24 aircraft are leased units with agreements originally scheduled to expire between two and eight years from now. Frontier said the returns are expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2026.
The ultra-low-cost carrier said the agreement is part of a “fleet optimization transaction” with AerCap.
Under the terms of the arrangement, AerCap will also enter into 10 future sale-leaseback transactions for aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2028 and 2029. Frontier did not disclose which variants will be included in the future transactions.
Frontier’s President and CEO Jimmy Dempsey said the agreement will result in a reduction of near-term fleet capacity through the early return of aircraft while maintaining AerCap as one of the carrier’s largest lessors.
“This agreement is a testament to the strong and enduring relationship between Frontier, AerCap and CFM International,” Dempsey added in a news release. “It represents a significant milestone in our new strategy to improve the productivity of the airline by a disciplined right sizing of our fleet. We are delighted AerCap will remain one of our largest lessors, and we look forward to expanding our partnership with an additional ten sale‑leaseback transactions.”
Frontier did not announce any immediate network or schedule changes tied to the aircraft returns.
According to Cirium Fleet Analyzer data, the airline currently has 174 aircraft in service, including 80 A320neos.
