Is there anything Spirit Airlines doesn’t charge for yet? Because they might need to start . . .
Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday. The low-budget airline hasn’t turned a profit since 2019.
They filed for Chapter 11 to restructure their debt. They’ve racked up more than $2.2 BILLION of it in the last five years alone.
JetBlue tried to buy them for $3.8 billion this year. But a judge blocked it, saying a merger would harm travelers by allowing ALL the airlines to up their prices.
If you’re flying Spirit for the holidays, don’t worry. They’re NOT going out of business. It’s the first major airline to go bankrupt since 2011, but it’s not that unusual. American, Delta, and United Airlines all filed for bankruptcy at one point.
Spirit put out a statement saying all tickets will be honored, and people “can continue to book and fly now, and in the future.”
That said, one industry expert thinks they could end up trimming their schedule, or even canceling some flights in the coming months.
Quote, “They’re not going to stop flying tomorrow. But inevitably, they’re going to emerge an even smaller airline after this process. So that means there are going to be some hiccups with routes.”
He said they might start operating at fewer airports, which means less competition. If that happens, tickets to and from those airports could get more expensive.