A Frontier Airlines plane (right) prepares to take off from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photos Justin Sullivan/Getty
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Photos Justin Sullivan/Getty
Frontier airlines will no longer allow customers to call a phone number to speak to a live agent. And while low-cost carriers are known for their cost-cutting measures, most major airlines still operate customer service routes.
Instead, customers will have to rely on other ways to contact the airline: chatbots on the airline’s website, 24/7 live chat, social media channels and even WhatsApp, according to the release. Frontier spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz, who confirmed the news reached NPR on Saturday.
This change “allows us to ensure our customers get the information they need as quickly and efficiently as possible,” De La Cruz said. She said the airline found that most customers prefer to communicate through online channels.
When customers call the airline’s now-defunct customer service line, they’ll hear a pre-recorded message telling travelers about other options they have for contacting them. Airlines.
“At Frontier, we offer the lowest fares in the industry by operating our airline as efficiently as possible,” the airline’s customer service line now replies.
The call center was removed last weekend, the airline told Travel Noire.
In July, Frontier’s attempt to merge with low-cost airline Spirit failed. Morale instead settle for an agreement to merge with a competitor, a low-cost airline, JetBlue. And by November, Frontier became 1 of 6 airlines fined $7.5 million for refusing to refund customers for canceled flights.
It is quite rare that even low-cost airlines do not have a customer service center. Two budget competitors, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Airlines, still use live representative call centers, according to CNN. At least one airline, Breeze Airways, is also said to have no customer phone numbers. Instead, people can change their travel plans through other methods such as the website or Facebook messenger.
