Overview
- Spirit Airlines, which began an orderly wind-down Saturday, canceled every flight and told customers not to go to airports.
- The company said its website shows customer service is unavailable, though refunds for tickets already purchased will be processed.
- CEO Dave Davis said a March deal with creditors was not enough, as keeping the airline flying required hundreds of millions of dollars in new cash the company could not obtain.
- Fuel costs have more than doubled since the conflict with Iran began, which the company called the decisive blow to its finances.
- A proposed federal package of about $500 million using equity warrants did not come together after some bondholders rejected a plan, and efforts to save the airline collapsed.
- American Airlines and United said they are coordinating with authorities and offering preferred fares to stranded travelers, while the flight attendants’ union is arranging hotels and rides home for Spirit crews.
- Spirit ranked ninth by U.S. passengers with 28 million carried in the year through January 2026 and employed just over 11,000 people in 2024, removing a major low-cost force that helped keep fares in check on overlapping routes.