Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Reconciliation Of Provision For Income Taxes

	2013		2012		2011
Consolidated tax provision at federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income tax provisions, net of federal income
tax benefit	(2.7)		2.4		4.0
Noncontrolling interest	(0.6)		(2.5)		(1.1)
Tax reserve adjustment	(1.1)		(5.4)		(4.0)
Changes in certain deferred tax balances	(4.0)		3.1		(2.7)
IRS audit adjustments	3.2		-		-
Federal research and development credit	(3.2)		-		-
Reversal of tax credits	-		-		4.4
Non-deductible transaction costs	2.0		-		-
All other, net	0.4		0.4		0.3
Effective tax rate	29.0	%	33.0	%	35.9	%

Components of Net Deferred Income Tax Liability (Asset)

($ in thousands)	2013		2012
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment basis differences	$	1,950,720	$	1,959,028
Intangibles		885,661		929,749
Other, net		25,954		29,564
	$	2,862,335	$	2,918,341
Deferred income tax assets:
Pension liability		216,890		306,421
Tax operating loss carryforward		130,733		154,892
Employee benefits		161,493		177,464
State tax liability		(642)		7,422
Accrued expenses		26,223		43,162
Allowance for doubtful accounts		11,957		35,181
Other, net		42,915		14,025
		589,569		738,567
Less: Valuation allowance		(112,671)		(78,784)
Net deferred income tax asset		476,898		659,783
Net deferred income tax liability	$	2,385,437	$	2,258,558
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are reflected in the following
captions on the consolidated balance sheet:
Deferred income taxes	$	2,417,108	$	2,357,210
Income taxes and other current assets		(31,671)		(98,652)
Net deferred income tax liability	$	2,385,437	$	2,258,558

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

($ in thousands)	2013		2012		2011
Income taxes charged to the consolidated statement of operations:
Current:
Federal	$	54,915	$	(3,824)	$	(13,320)
State		(163)		(1,039)		14,252
Total Current		54,752		(4,863)		932
Deferred:
Federal		12,699		53,642		77,750
State		(20,209)		26,859		9,661
Total Deferred		(7,510)		80,501		87,411
Total income taxes charged to the consolidated statement of operations		47,242		75,638		88,343
Income taxes charged (credited) to shareholders' equity of Frontier:
Utilization of the benefits arising from restricted stock		1,910		2,937		-
Deferred income taxes (benefits) arising from the recognition
of additional pension/OPEB liability		132,432		(58,551)		(97,409)
Total income taxes charged (credited) to shareholders' equity
of Frontier		134,342		(55,614)		(97,409)
Total income taxes	$	181,584	$	20,024	$	(9,066)

Changes in the Balance of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

($ in thousands)	2013		2012
Unrecognized tax benefits - beginning of year	$	11,487	$	33,928
Gross increases - current year tax positions		4,554		3,381
Gross decreases - expired statute of limitations		(7,282)		(25,822)
Unrecognized tax benefits - end of year	$	8,759	$	11,487