Frontier Airlines will keep its name if a court approves an offer by Republic Airways Holdings Inc. to help the Denver-based carrier emerge from bankruptcy. 'Frontier is a well-established, well-managed brand with a lot of frequent flyers,' Republic spokesman Carlo Bertolini said. 'We're not trying to re-invent the wheel.' It's less clear whether Frontier's headquarters will remain in Colorado. 'We have no preconceived notions about where anything will be performed,' Bertolini said. 'It's too early to say.' Frontier spokesman Steve Snyder echoed the comment, saying, 'It's too early in the process' to know what Frontier -- with 90 percent of its flights flowing in or out of Denver International Airport -- may look like as a Republic subsidiary. On Monday, Republic -- an Indianapolis-based holding company that provides regional service to seven network airline partners -- agreed to pay $108.7 million for all the equity in Frontier and its subsidiary, Lynx Aviation. The next day, Republic announced it was buying Midwest Airlines, based in Oak Creek, Wis., for $31 million. Midwest also will retain its name and Republic is looking to restore some of Midwest's flights cut last year due to fuel prices. Midwest and Frontier also will become code-share partners in late August, with Midwest's code placed on Frontier flights in certain markets and Frontier's code put on some Midwest flights. 'The timing was certainly not planned,' Bertolini said. 'We had been working on both for a long time and it was happenstance that we had the one-two punch.' Bertolini said he couldn't talk about company strategy -- noting that, among other things, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York must rule on the deal on July 13. But analysts agree that a new chapter in U.S. aviation appears about to be written. 'The world is changing,' said William Swelbar, a former airline consultant who now is a research engineer with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's International Center for Air Transportation. 'New market economics may force restructuring in the industry, where the winners are those, like Republic, with flexibility and agility,' Swelbar said. The highly competitive airline industry has been hit with staggering fuel prices, an economic recession and reticent passengers who have stayed away in droves. In the first five months of 2009, airlines have cut capacity -- the number of seats available -- by 11 percent. Passenger revenue was down 21 percent in the same period. The trends aren't sustainable by the legacy or network airlines of United, Continental, Delta/Northwest, American and US Airways, Swelbar said. Enter Republic and subsidiaries Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America with their own fleet of regional jets. 'It's a sad commentary and it's history that as markets evolve, you adapt or you dissolve,' Swelbar said. In Frontier, Republic gains larger planes than its current array of 44- to 86-seat planes that fly as Continental Express, Delta Connection, United Express and US Airways Express, said George Hamlin, president of Virginia-based Hamlin Transportation Consulting. 'The regional business is becoming more difficult and there will be a shakeout,' Hamlin said. The Frontier deal, Hamlin said, will reduce Republic's reliance on regional revenues from the major airlines and give Republic more clout. 'This would allow Republic to operate for some of the legacy carriers at a price that will generate an economic return for Republic,' Hamlin said. 'Republic would like to have more of a say than being whipsawed on price by the legacy carriers.' As a result, Republic gains revenue diversity through Frontier, Hamlin said. Swelbar said Republic also gains the infrastructure to sell tickets. Currently, Republic supplies the planes and crews that the network airlines schedule, book and market under their own colors. Experts were unsure exactly where Midwest fits into Republic's plans, although they believe it would play only a minor role since the company has struggled in recent years and it's generally considered just a shell of its former self. Analysts scored Republic high in management expertise. 'Republic is a well-run, respected regional operator,' Hamlin said. 'Its people are veterans in the industry and they understand what it means to run an airline.' Swelbar agreed, saying Republic's chief executive, Bryan Bedford, 'is a very smart guy who has ridden the roller coaster of this industry.' What Bedford, who joined Republic in 1999 after five years of heading Mesaba Airlines, may be doing is putting together an airline, Swelbar said. 'Not just providing capacity to the majors,' Swelbar said, 'but creating an airline' with a variety of services. The fit with Frontier is good, Hamlin said. Frontier has a low cost structure and a good management team. 'Frontier just reported its seventh consecutive month of operating profits,' Hamlin said, 'and that should tell you something about the team running it.' But the 'million-dollar question,' Swelbar said, 'is what happens to the keen competition between United, Southwest and Frontier at DIA' when Frontier exits bankruptcy protection this fall. 