Things didn’t work out like that It’s been looking good for Spirit Airlines for years now. The low-cost airline known for its stripped-down approach to the skies filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and then again in 2025. However, its demise on Saturday was sudden and shocking: Spirit said it would go out of business, cancel flights, close customer service routes, and lay off workers without warning.
Why is this happening?
The demise of the soul has been several years in the works. The company has not made a profit since 2019. Other airlines, including the larger, richer Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, have forayed into the low-cost space by cannibalizing tickets and offering their own cheap, concession-free fares. In 2022, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block a proposed merger with JetBlue, arguing that the deal would increase prices for all travelers. In early 2024, after a months-long trial, a federal judge blocked the merger. Then came two bankruptcies, one in early 2024 and another in the summer of 2025, as Spirit cut staff, routes and flights in an attempt to save itself.
Finally, the final blow came: the Iran war, the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and a sharp rise in fuel prices – which alone account for more than 25% of airline operating costs – made operations unsustainable. As airline lawyers said in a lawsuit Monday: “Recent geopolitical events have led to a massive and sustained increase in fuel prices…. There are no longer any viable paths to restructuring or continued operations.”
I have a soul ticket. What do I do?
Spirit said it automatically refunds prices. Those who purchased flights through third-party sites should contact those companies regarding refunds. But even before the refund, “your biggest concern should be rebooking,” says Katie Nastro, a travel expert at airline deals site Going.
Spikes in jet fuel prices have already made this upcoming travel season chaotic: U.S. tickets are up about 15 percent year-over-year, according to NerdWallet, with certain trips – trips to London and Hong Kong, for example, and travel on the U.S. West Coast – even higher, Nastro says.
If you have a Spirit ticket, United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest all offer capped ticket prices for a specific period, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are offering discounted fares on Spirit’s high-volume routes, and Allegiant has frozen fares on routes that overlap with Spirit’s routes. Frontier is offering up to 50 percent off its base fares to previous multi-day Spirit passengers.
I don’t fly in the spirit, but I fly. What do I do?
Nastro says the same advice: Move quickly to book. Routes left with fewer seats after Spirit’s explosion could become particularly expensive. It’s too early to say what impact a soulless airline might have on ticket prices, but Nastro says that in the medium term, the cost of some routes could rise by 15 to 20 percent.
What happens to the workers?
This weekend, most U.S. airlines offered stranded Spirit workers travel passes and jump seats to return home. Many of them have also offered Spirit employees “preferential job interviews,” according to the Department of Transportation.
Over time, most of Spirit’s employees will find new work in the aviation industry, predicts Ahmed Abdel-Ghany, who studies aviation operations as a professor in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University School of Business. “The capacity lost by Spirit will be replaced by other airlines,” he says. In other words, other airlines will rush (and have already rushed) to fill the flight slots and routes opened up by Spirit’s absence, and they will need workers to help. However, some employees may need to move to new jobs or seek work outside the airline business.
In its bankruptcy filing, Spirit proposed retaining 40 employees three months after winding down operations – a far cry from the 17,000 employees affected by the shutdown.
What happens to planes?
Spirit planes may not keep their cheerful yellow livery, but the equipment won’t go to waste. Abdul Ghani says Spirit has only flown Airbus A320s, an aircraft that is “very popular.” 82 of Spirit’s fleet of 131 aircraft have been leased and will be returned to their lessors; The remaining 49 aircraft owned by the airline will be sold.
What happens to very low prices?
The outlook for cheap prices in the US is less pleasant. People loved using Spirit – its modest approach to baggage fees, its BYO approach to water (it costs more than $4 a bottle on the plane), and its extremely uncomfortable seats. But the airline was one of the few offering one-way fares under $100. Abdul Ghani says that budget airlines will not be able to continue flying unless they can reduce their costs, which include labor, maintenance and fuel. Now that fuel prices have risen, “you have no other choice but to raise the fare.”
In a world without a soul, there is less competition. If airlines “fill their planes, there’s no incentive to lower prices,” Nastro says.
