Denver-based Frontier Airlines — and its animal-bedecked fleet — are ready to go public.
The ultra-low cost carrier filed regulatory paperwork Friday for an initial public offering, validating more than a year of speculation that Frontier and its owner, private-equity firm Indigo Partners, were preparing to seek public investors.
Frontier will be the first U.S. airline to go public in three years. The last was Virgin America, which held its IPO in 2014 and has since agreed to be acquired by Alaska Airlines for $2.6 billion.
The timing and expected proceeds of the stock sale were not disclosed, although people close to the matter have said Frontier is shooting for sometime in the second quarter, according to Bloomberg. Frontier would…