This will not qualify as the most important airline news of the month, or week, or day, but fans of Frontier Airlines' tail animals will be interested in learning the name of Frontier's new badger.
It's Buddy.

According to Frontier, the carrier received thousands of suggestions and narrowed the finalists to Buddy, Bella and Cookie. And no wonder Buddy won -- Cookie isn't alliterative, and Bella is a friendlier name that a fierce-looking badger deserves.

More than 15,000 Wisconsin residents voted, Frontier said.

The badger was the logical choice for a Frontier animal, since Frontier, now owned by Republic Airways Holdings, has absorbed Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines and is trying to build its brand awareness and local connection in Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin's mascot is Bucky Badger, you know.

For that reason, a badger was a much better animal than, say, a wolverine or gopher (golden or not).

Frontier has a slew of animals whose likenesses are displayed on its airplanes' tails, including Larry the Lynx, Foxy the Fox, Grizwald the Bear, Jack the Rabbit, Flip the Bottle-Nosed Dolphin and Jim, Joe, Jay and Gary the Penguins.