Spirit Airlines, an impish upstart that shook the industry with its irreverent ads and deep discount fares, announced Saturday that it has gone out of business after 34 years.Video above: Spirit Airlines’ shutdown strands some ‘frustrated’ passengers at Boston airportThe ultralow-cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately.”Although Spirit had gone bankrupt twice before, the company said high oil prices, which have been rising because of the war with Iran, made it impossible to stay aloft.The airline said on its website that all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available. Some passengers arrived Saturday for flights and were stunned to find them canceled, while workers learned overnight they were out of a job.“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the announcement said.U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that Spirit had a reserve fund set up for customers who bought directly from the airline to get refunds. People who bought from third-party vendors like travel agents would have to seek refunds from them. He had a stark message for people flying with Spirit.“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport. There will be no one here to assist you,” Duffy said.He said United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest were offering $200 one-way flights for people who could confirm that they had Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase for a limited time. Duffy also said other airlines would help with Spirit employees who might be stranded, as well as offering them a preferential application process as they look for work. Frontier Airways also announced discounted “rescue fares” and covers many of the same routes as Spirit did.Spirit said in a statement it was working to get more than 1,300 crew to their home bases and that the final Spirit flight landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from Detroit Metropolitan Airport.The company advised customers that they could expect refunds, but there would be no help in booking travel on other airlines.‘They get you there’Five Spirit flights were still showing as “on time” Saturday morning on the departure board in Atlanta, one of the airline’s smaller stations. A trickle of passengers who had not heard the news were still showing up.Video below: Spirit Airlines closing“What?” exclaimed Taylor Nantang as she, her husband and four children arrived for a Saturday afternoon Spirit flight from Atlanta to Miami.“So the whole airline at every airport is out of business?” asked Nantang. “Oh my, that’s crazy.”Nantang and her family had driven down from Tennessee to the Atlanta airport for a spur-of-the-moment vacation after her husband had bought Spirit tickets Friday.“It was like a last-minute let’s-get-out-of-town-and-do-something,” Nantang said.Other passengers wondered whether the airline would still answer its customer service phone or when the refunds for canceled flights might arrive on their credit cards.Xander Liskowski of Jacksonville, Florida, whose relative works for an airline, had bought a $25 standby ticket and rebooked on Frontier.“It says passengers should be getting chargebacks,” Liskowski said. “I don’t know how much I believe that.”Joshua Sigler, who had bought a ticket Friday for a flight Saturday to Miami, also arrived Saturday for a flight.“I’m just going to go back home,” said Sigler, who did not try to take advantage of deals some other airlines were offering to displaced Spirit passengers.He said he had gotten no communication from Spirit, which he had flown multiple times in the past. “They get you there,” he said of past flights. “It was cheap.”‘Boo-hoo crying’Former Spirit flight attendant Freddy Peterson was on a Spirit flight from Detroit that arrived in Newark around 11 p.m. Friday. He said that despite rumors flying on social media Friday, things seemed kind of normal, with more than 200 passengers on the plane.“All our aircraft were packed,” he said.Peterson, 60, said he set his alarm clock for 3 a.m. Saturday to check the company website at the hour of the rumored shutdown.“I said, ‘OK, well, since all this going on, they said Spirit is supposed to close at 3, I’m going to bed.’ I set my alarm clock for 3 o’clock, went onto the website and it said, ‘Spirit flights have been canceled,’” Peterson said.He said Delta Air Lines brought him and another flight attendant back to Atlanta on Saturday morning, with Peterson leaving from there to drive to his home in Shellman in Southwest Georgia.Video below: Scene at Palm Beach International Airport“I’ll probably do my boo-hoo crying and all that other stuff once I get in the car.”Peterson said he had been a flight attendant with Spirit for 10 years and the company has “done wonders for me.” He said the airline’s reputation for bargain basement chaos was largely undeserved, but he did fault management for not communicating with the employees in the closing days, saying a promised employee town hall was canceled.Bailout fizzlesThe Trump administration had considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached. Of the potential bailout, Duffy said Saturday, “We oftentimes don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”President Donald Trump had floated the idea of a bailout last week after the airline found itself in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years, with jet fuel prices soaring because of the war in Iran.As late as Friday afternoon, Trump had said that “we’re looking at it” and had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover.Spirit has struggled financially since the COVID-19 pandemic, weighed down by rising operating costs and growing debt. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.The budget carrier sought bankruptcy protection again in August 2025, when it reported having $8.1 billion in debts and $8.6 billion in assets, according to court filings.White House blames BidenThe White House had blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for Spirit’s tenuous financial situation. Biden, a Democrat, opposed a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue in 2023. On Saturday, Trump administration officials took to social media to amplify voices of conservative critics who faulted Biden for Spirit’s demise.On Saturday, Duffy concentrated blame on Biden as well as his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg.“Many at the time said that this was a disaster. This merger should have been allowed,” he said.Supporters of a rescue, including labor unions representing Spirit’s pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers, said a collapse would put thousands of Americans out of work and hurt consumers by reducing airline competition and increasing airfares. About 17,000 jobs could be impacted, according to Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner.Budget-conscious and leisure travelers would likely feel Spirit’s absence the most, especially in places where the airline has a big footprint, such as Las Vegas and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.The carrier flew about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly half a million fewer than during the same month a year earlier, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Spirit has also sharply reduced its capacity, with about half as many seats available this month as in May 2024.___Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Amy repored from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
Spirit Airlines, an impish upstart that shook the industry with its irreverent ads and deep discount fares, announced Saturday that it has gone out of business after 34 years.
Video above: Spirit Airlines’ shutdown strands some ‘frustrated’ passengers at Boston airport
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The ultralow-cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately.”
Although Spirit had gone bankrupt twice before, the company said high oil prices, which have been rising because of the war with Iran, made it impossible to stay aloft.
The airline said on its website that all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available. Some passengers arrived Saturday for flights and were stunned to find them canceled, while workers learned overnight they were out of a job.
“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the announcement said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that Spirit had a reserve fund set up for customers who bought directly from the airline to get refunds. People who bought from third-party vendors like travel agents would have to seek refunds from them. He had a stark message for people flying with Spirit.
“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport. There will be no one here to assist you,” Duffy said.
He said United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest were offering $200 one-way flights for people who could confirm that they had Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase for a limited time. Duffy also said other airlines would help with Spirit employees who might be stranded, as well as offering them a preferential application process as they look for work. Frontier Airways also announced discounted “rescue fares” and covers many of the same routes as Spirit did.
Spirit said in a statement it was working to get more than 1,300 crew to their home bases and that the final Spirit flight landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The company advised customers that they could expect refunds, but there would be no help in booking travel on other airlines.
‘They get you there’
Five Spirit flights were still showing as “on time” Saturday morning on the departure board in Atlanta, one of the airline’s smaller stations. A trickle of passengers who had not heard the news were still showing up.
Video below: Spirit Airlines closing
“What?” exclaimed Taylor Nantang as she, her husband and four children arrived for a Saturday afternoon Spirit flight from Atlanta to Miami.
“So the whole airline at every airport is out of business?” asked Nantang. “Oh my, that’s crazy.”
Nantang and her family had driven down from Tennessee to the Atlanta airport for a spur-of-the-moment vacation after her husband had bought Spirit tickets Friday.
“It was like a last-minute let’s-get-out-of-town-and-do-something,” Nantang said.
Other passengers wondered whether the airline would still answer its customer service phone or when the refunds for canceled flights might arrive on their credit cards.
Xander Liskowski of Jacksonville, Florida, whose relative works for an airline, had bought a $25 standby ticket and rebooked on Frontier.
“It says passengers should be getting chargebacks,” Liskowski said. “I don’t know how much I believe that.”
Joshua Sigler, who had bought a ticket Friday for a flight Saturday to Miami, also arrived Saturday for a flight.
“I’m just going to go back home,” said Sigler, who did not try to take advantage of deals some other airlines were offering to displaced Spirit passengers.
He said he had gotten no communication from Spirit, which he had flown multiple times in the past. “They get you there,” he said of past flights. “It was cheap.”
‘Boo-hoo crying’
Former Spirit flight attendant Freddy Peterson was on a Spirit flight from Detroit that arrived in Newark around 11 p.m. Friday. He said that despite rumors flying on social media Friday, things seemed kind of normal, with more than 200 passengers on the plane.
“All our aircraft were packed,” he said.
Peterson, 60, said he set his alarm clock for 3 a.m. Saturday to check the company website at the hour of the rumored shutdown.
“I said, ‘OK, well, since all this going on, they said Spirit is supposed to close at 3, I’m going to bed.’ I set my alarm clock for 3 o’clock, went onto the website and it said, ‘Spirit flights have been canceled,’” Peterson said.
He said Delta Air Lines brought him and another flight attendant back to Atlanta on Saturday morning, with Peterson leaving from there to drive to his home in Shellman in Southwest Georgia.
Video below: Scene at Palm Beach International Airport
“I’ll probably do my boo-hoo crying and all that other stuff once I get in the car.”
Peterson said he had been a flight attendant with Spirit for 10 years and the company has “done wonders for me.” He said the airline’s reputation for bargain basement chaos was largely undeserved, but he did fault management for not communicating with the employees in the closing days, saying a promised employee town hall was canceled.
Bailout fizzles
The Trump administration had considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached. Of the potential bailout, Duffy said Saturday, “We oftentimes don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”
President Donald Trump had floated the idea of a bailout last week after the airline found itself in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years, with jet fuel prices soaring because of the war in Iran.
As late as Friday afternoon, Trump had said that “we’re looking at it” and had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover.
Spirit has struggled financially since the COVID-19 pandemic, weighed down by rising operating costs and growing debt. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.
The budget carrier sought bankruptcy protection again in August 2025, when it reported having $8.1 billion in debts and $8.6 billion in assets, according to court filings.
White House blames Biden
The White House had blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for Spirit’s tenuous financial situation. Biden, a Democrat, opposed a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue in 2023. On Saturday, Trump administration officials took to social media to amplify voices of conservative critics who faulted Biden for Spirit’s demise.
On Saturday, Duffy concentrated blame on Biden as well as his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg.
“Many at the time said that this was a disaster. This merger should have been allowed,” he said.
Supporters of a rescue, including labor unions representing Spirit’s pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers, said a collapse would put thousands of Americans out of work and hurt consumers by reducing airline competition and increasing airfares. About 17,000 jobs could be impacted, according to Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner.
Budget-conscious and leisure travelers would likely feel Spirit’s absence the most, especially in places where the airline has a big footprint, such as Las Vegas and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
The carrier flew about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly half a million fewer than during the same month a year earlier, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Spirit has also sharply reduced its capacity, with about half as many seats available this month as in May 2024.
___
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Amy repored from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
