Spirit Airlines Just Shut Down After 30 Years Of Cheap Flights

The airline that taught the U.S. how to fly for $39 just shut down for good.

Spirit stopped flying before dawn Saturday. The end of the bright yellow carrier closes the book on 30 years of cheap U.S. air travel.

The Final Hours

Spirit's last flight was NK1833, from Detroit to Dallas Fort Worth, per the firm and Flightradar24 data. It landed just after midnight local time.

Anyone who opened the Spirit app Saturday morning saw the same line. "We regret to inform you that all Spirit Airlines flights have been canceled, effective immediately."

Spirit said about 17,000 direct and indirect jobs were lost. Riders who paid by credit or debit card will get refunds.

The carrier flew more than 50,000 people in its final 24 hours.

The Bailout That Failed

Trump's team offered a $500 million loan last month. The catch was huge.

The U.S. would have ended up with up to a 90% stake in Spirit. Bondholders blocked the deal because they feared the loan would push them down the line if Spirit hit more trouble.

Trump said Friday his team had pitched a "final" offer. "Seems like the other lenders are blocking. They think they'll get bumped down in priority. We come first," Trump said.

The deal had pushback from inside the team, too. Transport chief Sean Duffy told Reuters: "What we don't want to do is put good money after bad."

Spirit CEO Dave Davis blamed the spike in jet fuel costs from the war in the Middle East. "Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure," Davis said.

Davis thanked the Trump White House. He gave a special shout-out to Commerce chief Howard Lutnick for trying to save the airline.

Rescue Fares For Stranded Flyers

Other carriers stepped up fast. Southwest is offering set fares at airports on Spirit routes:

• $200 for flights up to 500 miles.
• $300 for flights up to 1,000 miles.
• $400 for flights over 1,000 miles.

United is capping fares for Spirit flyers at $299, with most priced at $199. American, JetBlue, and Frontier all planned rescue fares too.

That should help stranded flyers find seats fast. The longer-term hit lands on prices.

Spirit's home market share had already slid from 5.1% last year to 3.9% in February. The carrier flew about 1.7 million U.S. people in February, per Cirium.

What To Watch

Watch the legacy carriers and Frontier on the routes Spirit used to fly. Spirit kept fares low even where it did not fly because it forced rivals to match its low prices.

Without that pressure, fares on those routes could drift up. Frontier is the most likely to chase Spirit's budget flyers.

But Frontier is also the most likely to test what flyers will pay now that the cheapest option is gone.

The White House could still try to throw a lifeline to other low-fare carriers. Frontier and Avelo asked for $2.5 billion in federal help with fuel costs last month.

The cheap-flight model in the U.S. just lost its leader.