Spirit Airlines said it is shutting down after 34 years and immediately stopping all operations, canceling all flights and ending its customer support. In a statement posted by the airline, Spirit said it had begun an “orderly reduction of our operations, effective immediately,” after reaching the decision to close.
The airline told customers that its service would no longer be available and directed them toward refunds. It said customers could receive refunds, but it said it would not help passengers reserve flights with other airlines.
U.S. officials moved to limit disruption for travelers holding Spirit bookings. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said travelers could, for a limited time, access special prices on other airlines, and that other carriers would help Spirit pilots and flight attendants return to their home cities.
Duffy said affected passengers could consult the company that issued their credit card or their travel insurance policy to obtain information on refunds. The federal guidance came as Spirit’s closure left customers without the airline’s own rebooking channel.
The shutdown follows two bankruptcy filings in a relatively short period. Spirit had sought Chapter 11 protection in November 2024 after the company said it had been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic, with rising operating costs and mounting debt. The AP report said that after seeking protection, Spirit had already lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.
In August 2025, Spirit returned to bankruptcy court again, and it reported $8.1 billion in debt and $8.6 billion in assets, according to court documents. Supporters of a government rescue — including unions representing Spirit pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers — had argued that bankruptcy would leave thousands without jobs and harm consumers by reducing competition and raising airfares.
The airline’s financial problems were also tied to factors affecting the industry, the report said. Trump raised the idea of a government-funded acquisition earlier, after the airline faced bankruptcy again, with jet fuel costs rising amid the war with Iran, according to the AP account.
The Trump administration had been considering a rescue to prevent Spirit’s bankruptcy, but the government did not reach an agreement with the company, the report said. The airline said the company had planned to continue serving customers, but its closure announcement ended that path abruptly.
Passenger demand also fell before the shutdown, the AP report said. The airline carried about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly 500,000 fewer than in the same month of 2025, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The airline also cut capacity sharply, with about half as many seats available for the month as were available in May 2024.