Spirit Airlines to end service in 12 cities as rivals swoop in

Spirit Airways is ending flight service in a dozen cities lower than every week after the low cost provider introduced it was filing for bankruptcy for a second time this 12 months.

The Florida firm confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that it might exit the next markets on Oct. 2: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah; San Diego, California; and San Jose, California. The airline additionally mentioned it’s nixing plans to to launch service in Macon, Georgia, which was slated for Oct. 16.

Spirit serves dozens of cities in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean in keeping with its route map.

“We apologize to our Visitors for any inconvenience this may increasingly trigger and can attain out to these with affected reservations to inform them of their choices, together with a refund,” a Spirit spokesperson instructed CBS News in an electronic mail assertion.

The information comes at a financially tumultuous time for the price range provider. Spirit initially filed for chapter safety in November 2024 after years of of scuffling with rising operation prices and mounting debt. Simply months after rising from Chapter 11 reorganization, the airline filed for chapter safety once more in August.

On the time, Spirit mentioned it supposed to conduct enterprise as typical throughout the restructuring course of, signaling passengers would nonetheless have the ability to e-book flights and use tickets.

Spirit is in search of to chop prices by eliminating money-losing routes. In its quarterly earnings report in August, the corporate mentioned it had “substantial doubt” about its capability to remain in enterprise, citing components together with weak demand for home leisure journey and “opposed market situations.”

Rival airways swoop in

Rival airways reacted shortly by saying new lineups of home flights and worldwide flights as they sought to realize among the market share left in Spirit’s absence.

United Airways, the world’s largest airline provider, mentioned in an electronic mail assertion that it might add flights to fifteen cities beginning Jan. 6 together with journeys to and from Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Las Vegas.

“If Spirit all of the sudden goes out of enterprise will probably be extremely disruptive, so we’re including these flights to offer their prospects different choices if they need or want them,” Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice chairman of worldwide community planning and alliances, mentioned within the firm’s assertion.

In response to United’s assertion, a spokesperson for Spirit mentioned, “Whereas we recognize the obsession sure airline executives have with us, we’re centered on competing and operating a fantastic operation.” Spirit plans to proceed providing low fares to prospects “for a few years to come back,” the spokesperson added.

In the meantime, Frontier Airways, a low-cost airline provider primarily based out of Denver, introduced it was introducing 20 new routes from Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte and Dallas. The flights vary in value from $29 to $89.