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Spirit Airlines Is Winding Down All Operations

https://www.spiritrestructuring.com/
42•CaliforniaKarl•1h ago

Comments

rvz•1h ago
Too bad. Capitalism working as it should and no last minute government bailouts for failing companies.

The market should decide and determines winners and losers, not the government.

So compete.

47282847•53m ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
littlexsparkee•49m ago
can't help but think of the deadweight loss to the US over lack of free market capitalism in terms of bailouts, price supports & subsidies, monopolies, etc. every day we stray further and further from this system we purport to have.

edit: do folks not think more competition would be better for consumers? i'm no stan of capitalism but surely it could be made better, sheesh.

phtrivier•36m ago
I never heard about this company before this morning, so I can't project any second order effect of this closure.

That being said, I suspect many people had never heard about Lehman Brothers before 2008...

low_tech_love•21m ago
Man wouldn’t it be great if we lived in that world?
vrganj•16m ago
Other than ideology, in what way is this a good outcome? For passengers? For workers?
pfannkuchen•59m ago
> Winding Down

> To our Guests: all flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available

That seems quite a bit stronger than “winding down”!

shawn_w•35m ago
It was a very quick wind down.
testfrequency•29m ago
More like a free fall ffs
sudo_cowsay•23m ago
It's a fall down. Just like their stock prices.
barneybooroo•20m ago
It's "orderly", don't you know!
epistasis•59m ago
This process may seem ugly, but just like biological death is necessary for an ecosystem, this sort of death/restructuring is essential for capitalist economies. Assets and capital get reallocated to better uses. It's all part of the circle of life.
noosphr•48m ago
looks at ai investments

Sure.

system7rocks•47m ago
Thank God human beings who spend money on these resources are left to fend for themselves. Imagine if we spent good money on a flight, and now the company winds down its operations even as we are on route to our destination. Since we are just a number, I supposed we should simply cease to exist or occupy a liminal space. Or maybe... we could be treated as a human being?
gizmo686•38m ago
Bankcruptcy and corporate death in general are important. However, the details of how that is managed can vary wildly, and not all implementations are equal.

In this case, the bankcruptcy was handled by cancelling all flights with 1 day of notice. This level of ugliness is not necessary.

matwood•14m ago
“How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” -Hemmingway
pjmlp•35m ago
Sure, for those not affected by these capitalist decisions, left stranded in the middle of nowhere, or having to look for a new job, while the owner party at their coffy houses.
vrganj•34m ago
That sounds more like religious dogma than thought out argument.

The capital will probably go to further the AI bubble, I really don't see how that would be more useful than enabling travel.

riffraff•14m ago
While it's fair to criticize how this screwed up customers (and perhaps workers), airline shutdowns are often good things, route/airport slots gets freed for example, and airlines with better value (cost or quality wise) can take over.

I don't live in the US but spirit has been the butt of jokes for years.

ozgrakkurt•27m ago
Ideally, they should have stopped selling tickets and then closed shop when the sold flights were done. At least within some time frame like 1 month
dooglius•23m ago
> biological death is necessary for an ecosystem

Can you expand on this? How do you explain e.g. ecosystems around centuries-old redwoods?

project2501a•20m ago
Comment is made after May 1st, international strike day.
danaris•16m ago
In addition to the human cost that others mention, the big problem is that in our current system, this doesn't lead to fresh blood coming in and being able to compete on an even footing: it leads to the giant incumbents schlorping up the pieces and becoming even bigger and stronger.

Your statement might be true in a system with healthy safeguards ands competition, but that isn't the system we have in the real world today.

system7rocks•49m ago
I am so grateful for this announcement. In a time when gas prices are high, Spirit should be the kind of capitalist example that dominates. Instead, it goes bankrupt despite the President trying to nationalize it. Thanks be to the God of money.
muppetman•37m ago
Wow those Halloween shops really flopped huh?
intothemild•22m ago
If only they flapped. Maybe they'd still be in the air.
xyst•27m ago
I sense another bailout for the airline industry if the illegal Iran war continues. Spirit is just the first domino to fall.
aliljet•25m ago
Why did Spirit die? Was there any last of this that had to do with their abysmal customer service?
avazhi•22m ago
Is this your first time on the internet since February?
robin_reala•21m ago
Small regional airline failing isn’t a big news story in my typical parts of the internet.
avazhi•17m ago
Calling Spirit a small regional just betrays the fact that you don't know anything about the airline industry.

You asked if this was caused by or related to bad customer service. This was 100% caused by the increase in jet fuel prices due to the war in Iran. So, once again, you clearly don't follow this area at all and probably shouldn't ask questions about it, especially if you're gonna try to be snarky.

chrisandchris•13m ago
That really sounds line the US is the only country in the world. Considering the world is bigger, I would call Spirit maybe regional, but not small. Ask some europeans, basically no one will know Spirit - as US people may not know e.g. Wizz.
avazhi•10m ago
No, that's not what a regional airline is. Many countries have regional airlines. I know of several in Africa, the US, and Australia that are specifically 'regional' as opposed to a national or flagship or international airlines. European counties also obviously have many regional airlines. A good example in AU is Qantas vs Qantaslink (the latter being the regional subsidiary).

In the US a regional airline would be something like SkyWest.

It has nothing to do with jingoism or nationalism, but Europeans really will try to get offended about this sort of thing whenever they can lol. It's like if you said United Airlines is a regional airline; it's just factually incorrect, there's nothing more insidious or offensive than that. In this case United is a major carrier. You could try to argue that UnitedExpress is a regional airline, but they have such a large national geographic reach that I'd dispute that. Either way, it isn't about America being 'the only country in the world', it's just about a misunderstanding of what the word means in this context.

Ekaros•22m ago
Airlines are not great business. Margins are not great. Fuel is significant part of their operating costs. And if it goes up too much in too short time the whole model breaks. Less margins you have the more you will be impacted. So if you are operating at edge by default fast move in costs will destroy you.
gib444•17m ago
IAG in 2025 had a record operating margin of 15.1%.

Ryanair's gross profit margin for fiscal years ending March 2021 to 2025 averaged 19.1%.

Some are (were?) doing just fine - in Europe at least.

Sure, it's no Big Tech or banking, but it's not like the single low digit percentage of eg retail.

Perhaps some USA airlines need some advice from across the pond?

user_7832•22m ago
Can someone explain to me (a non American) which niche or segment was Spirit in (and perhaps why they, and not any other airline, are shutting shop)?
infinitewars•21m ago
Similar to Ryanair in Europe
mey•19m ago
Low cost carrier. Think Ryanair. Competition from the rest of the market and bad management put them in a bad position, with the most recent war causing unsustainable fuel issues. Other airlines may be able to double/triple their prices in the short term. Spirit's customers may simply choose to not fly.

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/02/nx-s1-5807933/spirit-airlines... describes this in more detail.

plantain•15m ago
Good. They treated their customers terribly and actions have consequences. I was double charged for a flight and they just refused to acknowledge it until I charged back, after which I assume they banned me.
wg0•15m ago
Seems like the fallout of the unnecessary adventurism in middle east.
clintonb•4m ago
It’s strange to see so many commenters celebrating the death of a company and the loss of so many jobs.

I flew Spirit a few times. The first time sucked because it was an emergency and I had no other option. The last few flights were great. We got the large seats up front for $75 extra. That plus parking at SJC was still cheaper than flying Southwest out of OAK.

The staff were friendly, and the gate was conveniently across from a lounge, so we had a truly great experience for those couple flights to Dallas.

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Spirit Airlines Is Winding Down All Operations

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