Spirit Airlines, the low-fare carrier known for “unbundled” add-ons and bold, often-ironic advertising, said Saturday it has gone out of business after 34 years. The airline said its last flight departed from Detroit and landed in Dallas, closing out a final day that left customers searching for new ways home and workers trying to get clarity on what comes next.
In a statement, CEO Dave Davis said Spirit had “shut down after its final flight departed from Detroit and landed safely in Dallas.” Davis also described the airline’s role over more than 30 years in “making travel more accessible and bringing people together while driving affordability across the industry,” as the carrier’s business model built around low prices unraveled.
The shutdown came after the airline’s recent restructuring efforts included two bankruptcy filings in two years. Those filings, Spirit said, allowed it to repay lenders, but the company’s latest attempt to stabilize failed to prevent a broader cash squeeze tied to fuel costs.
Spirit said the immediate driver was higher jet fuel prices linked to the Iran war. The airline’s announcement followed a period that included a fast, last-ditch effort to cut costs by trimming routes and squeezing concessions from unions while pursuing a potential financing deal with the Trump administration that the airline said could have provided a lifeline if it had worked out.
Spirit’s end also capped an unusual industry influence. The carrier began as Charter One Airlines, running vacation tours in the early 1980s before growing into a no-frills approach that treated many services as optional. Its “unbundled” fares let travelers skip basic services such as bag handling, seat selection, and even printing of tickets, paying extra only for what they chose.
For years, Spirit’s no-nonsense approach—often portrayed by critics as nickel-and-diming—was paired with confrontational, attention-grabbing marketing. The story said Spirit ran ads that played on events ranging from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 to a “Weiner Sale” after Anthony Weiner’s sexting scandal, and later promoted its “MILF Sale” in a nod to both low fares and the “Many Islands, Low Fares” acronym. Even some of the most offensive-sounding campaigns became part of the carrier’s brand identity, though some passengers and critics said they did not enjoy the humor.
Despite complaints, Spirit’s model spread beyond the airline. The carrier’s low-cost, fee-forward strategy helped push larger airlines to respond with similar offerings, including slashing prices and rolling out “basic economy” fares.
On its final day of operations, Spirit said it safely flew more than 50,000 passengers. A company spokesperson also said the airline was working to return more than 1,300 crew members home, while about 17,000 employees—including some with more than 25 years at the airline—learned Friday that they had lost their jobs, many after finding out through media reports rather than directly from the company.
Among workers, the Spirit flight attendants union acknowledged the end in a memo to members Saturday, describing the airline as a “strength” that “could withstand anything that anyone throws at us.” The union’s message said, “And that is no joke,” as it pointed to what it said was a shared resilience even after the shutdown.
Passengers on the last day described a mix of attachment and frustration. Kendria Talton, who flew Friday on Spirit from Dallas to Atlanta with her daughter for a dance competition, said she came because of price, adding, “Other than that, I mean nobody even likes Spirit. They’ve always talked about Spirit for years.” Another passenger, University of Houston student Angelina Deruelle, 23, said she was at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport on Friday, when her flight to Texas was canceled, and described losing Spirit as an affordable option as difficult to accept.
Spirit’s collapse came amid a long period of financial stress that the airline said worsened after higher fuel costs and during the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time it filed its first Chapter 11 case in November 2024, the airline had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020, according to the report.
Just months before Saturday’s announcement, Spirit said it expected to emerge from its second bankruptcy in late spring or early summer after striking a preliminary deal with lenders. Instead, the airline said the onset of U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran four days later pushed crude prices above $100 globally, sending gasoline prices higher and, the company said, jet fuel prices rising sharply—ultimately draining cash and forcing it to shut down.