Spirit Airlines announced Saturday that it is shutting down, a move that will affect thousands of scheduled flights and employees.
The airline cancelled all flights and announced an “orderly wind-down” of operations, effective immediately, early Saturday.
“To our Guests: all flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available,” the company said in a statement. “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,” it added.
Spirit, which had been struggling to maintain consistent profitability since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, had been seeking to emerge from its second bankruptcy within a year.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the White House had presented Spirit Airlines with “a final proposal” for a federal bailout to prevent its closure. However, he said he was unsure about allocating taxpayer funds to a business that has already experienced two bankruptcies.
American Airlines announced Friday that it would immediately implement fare caps on tickets in its “main cabin” tier for Spirit routes to cities where it also provides nonstop service.
On the website dedicated to its shutdown, the airline said passengers should not go to the airport and that all Spirit flights are cancelled, directing them to a page for refund status and next steps.
Spirit attempted to sell itself to JetBlue in 2022 after it struggled to regain its financial footing in the wake of the pandemic. Had that happened, it would have created the fifth-largest airline in the country.
But Biden-era officials at the Justice Department argued that the combination would violate federal antitrust regulations, and in 2024, a judge sided with them and struck down the merger agreement.
A judge approved a reorganization plan in early 2025, only for the airline to file once again in August amid weakening demand among budget flyers and spiraling costs.
