Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Reconciliation Of Provision For Income Taxes

	2014		2013		2012
Consolidated tax provision at federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income tax provisions, net of federal income
tax benefit	1.6		(2.7)		2.4
Noncontrolling interest	-		(0.6)		(2.5)
Tax reserve adjustment	6.9		(1.1)		(5.4)
Domestic production activities deduction	(8.7)		-		-
Changes in certain deferred tax balances	(14.1)		(4.0)		3.1
IRS audit adjustments	-		3.2		-
Federal research and development credit	(3.3)		(3.2)		-
Non-deductible transaction costs	1.0		2.0		-
All other, net	0.3		0.4		0.4
Effective tax rate	18.7	%	29.0	%	33.0	%

Components of Net Deferred Income Tax Liability (Asset)

($ in thousands)	2014		2013
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment basis differences	$	2,451,231	$	1,950,720
Intangibles		1,076,456		885,661
Other, net		23,926		25,954
	$	3,551,613	$	2,862,335
Deferred income tax assets:
Pension liability		247,490		216,890
Tax operating loss carryforward		162,085		130,733
Employee benefits		304,044		161,493
State tax liability		(642)		(642)
Accrued expenses		54,813		26,223
Allowance for doubtful accounts		16,078		11,957
Other, net		40,016		42,915
		823,884		589,569
Less: Valuation allowance		(139,937)		(112,671)
Net deferred income tax asset		683,947		476,898
Net deferred income tax liability	$	2,867,666	$	2,385,437
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are reflected in the following
captions on the consolidated balance sheet:
Deferred income taxes	$	2,938,907	$	2,417,108
Income taxes and other current assets		(71,241)		(31,671)
Net deferred income tax liability	$	2,867,666	$	2,385,437

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

($ in thousands)	2014		2013		2012
Income tax expense:
Current:
Federal	$	98,288	$	54,915	$	(3,824)
State		10,132		(163)		(1,039)
Total Current		108,420		54,752		(4,863)
Deferred:
Federal		(34,205)		12,699		53,642
State		(43,671)		(20,209)		26,859
Total Deferred		(77,876)		(7,510)		80,501
Total income tax expense		30,544		47,242		75,638
Income taxes charged (credited) to equity of Frontier:
Utilization of the benefits arising from restricted stock		(472)		1,910		2,937
Deferred income taxes (benefits) arising from the recognition
of additional pension/OPEB liability		(90,410)		132,432		(58,551)
Total income taxes charged (credited) to equity of Frontier		(90,882)		134,342		(55,614)
Total income taxes	$	(60,338)	$	181,584	$	20,024

Changes in the Balance of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

($ in thousands)	2014		2013
Unrecognized tax benefits - beginning of year	$	8,759	$	11,487
Gross increases - current year tax positions		12,878		4,554
Gross decreases - expired statute of limitations		(2,379)		(7,282)
Unrecognized tax benefits - end of year	$	19,258	$	8,759