When Frontier Airlines' inaugural flight to Salt Lake City arrived Monday morning, among the passengers on board the sold-out flight was B. LaRae Orullian, chair of the new Frontier.
Born and raised in the East Millcreek area of Salt Lake where she graduated from Granite High School, Orullian said she was delighted to bring Frontier back to her hometown."We are picking the markets where there are good growth opportunities and then stimulating them with lower fares," she said in a phone interview prior to the flight.
Orullian said Frontier's niche is similar to low-fare, no-frills Southwest Airlines, "but with better service and, eventually, covering a broader area" of the country. Like Southwest, Frontier limits itself to a single type of aircraft, the Boeing 737.
Orullian left Utah in 1955 for Colorado. Having worked for a time at the old Tracy-Collins Bank & Trust (now West One Bank) she used that experience to launch a bank of her own, The Women's Bank, in Denver. The bank was sold a year ago, but Orullian remains as chair of the bank's board of directors.
She also is chair of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Health Care Corp., and is national president of the Girl Scouts of America. Last July she was named "citizen of the year" by the East Mill Creek Lions Club.
Considering all the problems airlines have had in recent years, is this a good time to launch and expand a new airline? Couldn't be better, said Orullian.
"Some (airlines) have had a lot of trouble, but what we have done - provide good service, good comfort and extra (seating) room - has been well-received," she said. "I have dozens of letters from people saying how pleased they are that Frontier is doing well."