Aug 8 (Reuters) - Frontier Group ( ULCC ), the parent of

budget carrier Frontier Airlines, beat Wall Street estimates for

second-quarter profit on Thursday, and said it will defer taking

deliveries of 54 Airbus jets.

Airlines in the U.S. are experiencing a summer travel boom

and expect to ferry 271 million passengers during the season, a

6.3% increase over last year, according to Airlines for America,

a group representing major carriers.

However, carriers have increased seats in the domestic

market in excess of demand, pressuring airfares at the

price-sensitive end of the market.

Frontier's profit beat was facilitated by tighter cost

initiatives which included simplifying its network. It also

benefited from its sale and leaseback deals in the quarter.

The carrier said on Thursday it was deferring deliveries of

54 Airbus jets to between 2029 to 2031. Frontier previously

expected to get the deliveries for the jets from 2025 to 2028.

Airlines operating certain Airbus A320neo jets have also

been impacted by troubles with Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan

(GTF) engines, which have forced them to take a number of its

aircraft out of service.

Last month JetBlue ( JBLU ) also said that it would defer

deliveries of 44 Airbus airplanes to 2030 and beyond as part of

its efforts to drive up earnings.

On an adjusted basis, Frontier earned 14 cents per share in

the second quarter ended June 30, compared with analyst

estimates of 12 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

Its cost per available seat mile came in at 8.98 cents, down

6% from the previous year.