Spirit Airlines has ceased operations, canceling all flights in the early hours of Saturday. The carrier announced shortly after 3 a.m. EDT that every flight was canceled and urged travelers not to go to airports. The sudden grounding left passengers, pilots and flight attendants stranded and thousands of employees without work.
A source familiar with the matter said Spirit has roughly 9,500 employees, a figure that rises to about 17,000 when contractors are included. The U.S. Department of Transportation said several major airlines agreed to actions to support Spirit ticketholders, affected travelers and airline employees, including offering reduced “rescue” fares on routes Spirit served. The DOT added that most major carriers are extending travel privileges to former Spirit employees and providing preferential hiring interviews.
Spirit had been in bankruptcy and had been working to exit for months after reaching an agreement with creditors in late February. The airline hoped to emerge from its second bankruptcy by summer while shrinking its fleet and reconfiguring its network to find a sustainable business model. Those efforts, including adding first-class seating to capture more premium revenue, were not enough to stave off collapse.
A recent surge in jet fuel prices, attributed in the article to the start of the U.S. war in Iran, eroded the slim margins Spirit relied on and accelerated the depletion of its cash reserves. Fuel is typically the second-largest airline expense after labor and accounts for roughly a third of operating costs. Spirit also faced lingering operational problems, including an engine defect that required lengthy inspections and repairs, further hampering its recovery.
The carrier once tried to avoid failure through a proposed merger with JetBlue, but that deal was blocked by a federal judge in 2024 after the Biden administration sued on antitrust grounds. During the trial Spirit’s then-CEO warned the airline was at risk of shutting down without a merger.
Spirit had accounted for about 1.8% of U.S. airline capacity. Industry observers warn that the loss of an ultra-low-cost carrier could put upward pressure on fares, as such airlines historically helped keep base fares lower by competing aggressively on price.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
Sean Cudahy and Ben Mutzabaugh contributed reporting.
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