Ultra-low-cost-carrier Frontier Airlines was involved with a call to the FBI on Sunday, November 9, after a loaded gun was found on one of its Airbus A320 aircraft. Officers assigned to support at the airport responded to a call that a gun magazine was found on the aircraft at Gate C-6 at 
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The passenger in seat 7A located the loaded magazine, which contained ten hollow-point rounds.
The gun was found during boarding of the Frontier Airlines flight, which was destined for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). It had been identified that there were markings on the gun, specifically the initials ‘K H’. Guidelines for traveling with a firearm, as per the TSA, note that they must be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container and transported as checked baggage only.
Everybody Off The Plane
With boarding for the flight already underway, the airline coordinated with the TSA, DOA, Homeland Security, and Atlanta Police K-9 units to facilitate the disembarkation of the aircraft, to allow officers to complete a full sweep of the aircraft before take-off. No additional items were found; however, the TSA screened all those on the flight once more before re-boarding. The flight was then able to depart closer to 20:00 for Cincinnati.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, it was reported that it belonged to a member of law enforcement who had been on the previous flight; however, this is contradicted by the Atlanta Police Department, who have yet to confirm owns the firearm magazine. Simple Flying reached out to Frontier Airlines for comment on the incident; however did not receive a response by the time this article was published. The airline did, however, respond to Fox News, which shared this statement:
“A subsequent investigation confirmed that the ammunition belonged to a law enforcement officer who was on an earlier flight on the same aircraft. The ammunition and magazine were taken into the custody of the Atlanta Police Department, and the property owner was referred to the Atlanta P.D. to retrieve his items.”
No Guns Allowed
There are strict rules set out by the TSA in relation to traveling with firearms and ammunition, which outline that you are permitted to carry an unloaded firearm if this is locked in a hard-sided container. This must be checked in and declared at the ticket counter. The container is required to be completely secured and lto imit access. If it is in a locked case that can be easily opened, it will not be allowed to be transported on the flight.
Passengers must declare a firearm each time they are traveling, and it is worth checking with your airline about their expectations or additional fees that may apply. The TSA considers a firearm loaded if the firearm and ammunition are accessible to passengers, even if these are transported in separate containers.
Firearm parts, which include clips, bolts, firing pins, and magazines, are prohibited in carry-on baggage, and replica firearms also follow similar guidelines. These must be checked in. Bringing an unloaded firearm through security checkpoints can carry the same penalty or fine as attempting to transport the real thing.
Frontier Operations At Atlanta
Atlanta remains an important operating base for Frontier Airlines, and the carrier maintains 42 domestic and six year-round routes from the airport. Two additional seasonal flights are added to Grand Rapids and Punta Cana during peak time. The airline is expanding its operations at the airport, with two new domestic links to Memphis and Milwaukee to commence before the end of the year, while six new international services will take off between now and the end of December, including Nassau, Providenciales, Puerto Vallarta, St Maarten, and San Jose del Cabo.
Frontier is a major ULCC that operates across the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America, and maintains operating bases at Atlanta, Chicago–Midway, Chicago–O’Hare, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, San Juan, Tampa, and Trenton.
As per ch-aviation, the airline operates a fleet of 166 all Airbus A320 family aircraft, including the A320-200 (soon to be retired), A320neo, A321-200, and A321neo. Given its ULCC business model, passengers can bring on a small piece of hand luggage included in the carrier’s cheapest airfare, but the likes of meals, larger items, and seat selection all come at an additional fee.
