Struggling U.S. low-cost airline Spirit Airlines announced the cancellation of all flights and the immediate shutdown of operations early Saturday morning, ending 34 years as a ultra-low-cost airline.
A statement from the airline on its website today read: "To our guests: All flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available."
" We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the past 34 years and we hope to serve our guests for many years to come."
The airline has instructed passengers not to go to the airport and visit its closure website for information on the refund status.
Spirit had been working to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year, but those efforts failed amid rising jet fuel costs linked to the war with Iran.
Last month, the airline asked for financial help from the White House, and President Donald Trump initially seemed open to helping, but on Friday reports indicated a shutdown was imminent after talks between the airline, bondholders and the White House collapsed.
Flight tracking software showed there were no flights with the Spirit symbol in the air as of early Saturday morning, with social media posts indicating that the last Spirit NK1833 flight from Detroit to Dallas landed at 8:08 a.m.
Reuters quoted two sources it described as insiders that the company, which declared bankruptcy, is preparing to halt its operations today.
Thousands of workers lose jobs
Spirit tried to sell itself to JetBlue in 2022 after struggling financially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as Biden-era Justice Department officials argued that the deal would violate antitrust laws, and a merger judge banned it in 2024.
Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection for the first time months later, becoming the first major U.S. airline to file since 2011.
JetBlue and Frontier Airlines, Spirit's main rivals, as well as other U.S. airlines, have said they are ready to help affected passengers with travel plans, while a source said Spirit Airlines' board of directors meeting ended Friday, without reaching an agreement to bail out the company.
The collapse of Spirit Airlines will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs, becoming the first airline to fail in part due to higher jet fuel prices during Iran's two-month war.
It is also a blow to President Trump, who has proposed $500 million to save Spirit Airlines, despite opposition from some of his closest advisers and many Republicans in Congress.
No U.S. airline the size of Spirit has been liquidated in two decades, accounting for at one point about 5 percent of flights in the United States.
US Department of Transportation: We have not found anyone to buy the company
Spirit Airlines has helped keep airfare low in markets where it has competed with major airlines. The White House has contacted other airlines to discuss how to accommodate passengers carrying Spirit tickets.
United Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines and JetBlue announced on Friday that they are preparing to provide support to Spirit customers.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Reuters he had tried to persuade a number of airlines to buy Spirit, but found no one willing to do so, adding: "What can someone buy? If no one else wants to buy it, why do we buy it?"
Trump said on Friday that his administration had submitted a "final proposal" to the low-cost airline to acquire it with taxpayer-funded funding to avoid bankruptcy, but the lack of an agreement put the airline's future in doubt.
Trump said he was still considering the possibility of the U.S. government acquiring troubled Spirit Airlines with taxpayer funding, without giving any details on the proposal he was considering, but said he wanted to save jobs at the airline, which has declared bankruptcy twice in two years.
The U.S. Aerospace Industry Suffers
The repercussions of Iran's war are escalating beyond the geopolitical arenas and striking deep into global energy markets, where jet fuel is at the heart of the equation, with supply disruptions and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the cost of jet fuel is rising sharply, putting airlines in front of an inflationary wave that is difficult to absorb in light of already tight profit margins.
This energy shock exposes a structural fragility in the U.S. aviation industry, which relies heavily on the stability of fuel prices and its ability to hedg.
As prices rise accelerate, companies find themselves faced with a complex equation: either pass costs on to travelers, or incur increased losses, at a time when competition is increasing and demand is slowing.
Delta Air Lines President Ed Bastian warned this month that U.S. airlines must improve or "risk being eliminated" as jet fuel prices surge caused by the Middle East crisis put the industry under new pressure.
"I think we're going to see some rationalization. Long before the end of the year. "I don't think the industry has enough time to respond." What is happening today is not just a supply shortage, but a harsh test of the resilience of the U.S. aviation industry, which entered this crisis with stockpiles that are the lowest in three decades, and have come out of it burdened by operating debt and the costs of war insurance.
CBS News reports that Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warns that pressure on the aviation industry could worsen in the coming weeks as jet fuel supplies plummet, as a result of the turmoil associated with the Iran war.