Frontier Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost carrier headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The airline’s visual identity is built around two distinctive elements: a stylized “F” mark with roots in a 1978 design by Saul Bass, and photorealistic animal artwork on aircraft tails that has been a brand signature since the 1990s.
Design and History
The current Frontier Airlines wordmark and “F” icon trace back to a design created in 1978 by Saul Bass for the original Frontier Airlines (1950–1986). Bass stylized the letter “F” in the form of a bird’s wing, illustrated as white horizontal stripes of different lengths within a red circle. That logo was used until the original airline ceased operations in 1986.[1]
When the new Frontier Airlines launched in 1994, it revived the Saul Bass “F” mark, giving the emblem a second life to highlight the brand’s history. The designers utilized the original wing design to replace the letter “F” in the wordmark.[1]
In September 2014, following Indigo Partners’ acquisition of the airline, Frontier introduced an updated livery as part of a rebranding. The new look changed the airline’s name from grey to green on the fuselage and added an arrow swoosh beneath the name, a nod to the airline’s logo from the 1950s. The popular animal images on the plane tails remained.[2] The typography on the fuselage came from the 1978 Saul Bass design, while the expanded emphasis on the animals drew from a history introduced in the 1990s that had been under-utilized.[3]
In 2022, Frontier introduced a new livery and logo. The new aircraft paint scheme consists of six main elements: the new logo on the fuselage, an arrow below the front of the logo, the company website on the rear fuselage, animal names below the cockpit windows, animal artwork on the tail, and green engine paint.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The stylized “F” in the Frontier Airlines logo is designed to resemble a bird’s wing, a direct reference to flight and the airline’s name. The mark consists of three horizontal stripes of different lengths, echoing the original 1978 Saul Bass design.[1]
Each Frontier aircraft is named after a real animal and features a photorealistic painting of that species on the tail. This practice began in the 1990s and has become the airline’s most recognizable brand element.[3] For example, the airline’s first Airbus A321neo featured Frederick the Bald Eagle on its tail, named in tribute to Pratt & Whitney founder Frederick B. Rentschler.[5]
Typography and Design
The Frontier Airlines wordmark uses a bold, uppercase sans-serif typeface. The letterforms are clean and modern, reflecting the airline’s focus on efficiency and accessible air travel. The wordmark is typically rendered in green against white backgrounds or in white against green, ensuring visibility on aircraft fuselages, airport signage, and digital platforms. The gray accent color appears in supporting brand materials and provides contrast for secondary messaging.
The 2014 rebranding reintroduced a green “FRONTIER” typeface to the fuselage, featuring the stylized “F” designed by Saul Bass for the original Frontier in 1978.[6] The typography on the fuselage comes from the design introduced in 1978 by Saul Bass.[3]
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