Tag Archives for spirit airlines.
Spirit’s March operating report shows just how impossible the airline had become: it spent $1.61 for every $1 of revenue, lost $157 million on operations in one month, and still would have been deeply underwater even if fuel had been free. They could not have been bailed out.
Spirit Airlines workers say the company told them to ignore shutdown rumors right up until the end — then terminated nearly everyone without 60 days’ notice. Now they’re suing for WARN Act pay, while Spirit argues its collapse was unforeseeable because last-minute financing and a possible taxpayer bailout fell apart.
People pledging money to “buy Spirit Airlines” were already making a dubious bet: the campaign has no cash, no binding commitments, and no plan to fix the airline. Now scammers have spotted the obvious target — fake copycat sites are reportedly taking real money from would-be supporters.
Spirit Airlines offered taxpayers 80% of the company in exchange for a $500 million bailout. Trump wanted 90% and that extra demand may have helped kill the deal, leaving creditors to conclude they were better off liquidating the airline than giving the government nearly everything.
With employees gone and baggage offices empty, passengers whose luggage was found may still have no one there to give it back.
A “people-owned” rescue effort for Spirit Airlines has gone viral, claiming $22 million in pledges from would-be founding patrons. It has no cash, no actual bid, and no business plan to fix an airline that was losing money before it shut down.
Spirit Airlines’ shutdown was supposed to leave a hole in the market. JetBlue is already treating it like an opening — shifting planes, crews and new flights into Spirit’s Fort Lauderdale home base while cutting flying elsewhere.
Spirit Airlines has plenty of stories people will mock, but one flight attendant’s farewell to the airline’s final passengers was unexpectedly gracious. As Spirit shuts down after 43 years in the air, he told passengers he did not remember the bad times — just the good ones — and thanked them for staying with the airline until the end.
The final Spirit Airlines commercial flight to land asked DFW Tower whether any other Spirit flights were coming in behind it. When the answer came back that they might be the last one, the crew signed off with grace — “it was a pleasure working with you guys” — a quiet, dignified ending for the employees who stayed until the end.
Spirit Airlines could stop flying with little warning, leaving ticket holders scrambling for refunds, replacement flights, hotel costs, and answers about stranded trips. If you have a Spirit reservation, this is the moment to screenshot everything, consider a backup flight, understand your chargeback rights, and accept that Free Spirit miles may have no real escape route.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
