It was just a few months ago that the beleaguered Spirit Airlines entered bankruptcy protection. Known as a low-cost option for budget flyers, its bright yellow planes had become a familiar sight at many airports around North America. Supply chain issues and rising costs made the environment untenable for a no frills operator like Spirit. As such, the company was forced into bankruptcy protection and debt restructuring to survive in November 2024.
Now, it's March 2025 and Spirit is back with massive changes on the way. The days of Spirit being a budget airline are reputedly over as the company seeks to rebrand itself as premium airline moving forward. This represents a shift from price-conscious travelers to more affluent passengers looking for a much different experience. Spirit management believe that's where the future of their airline is and investors seem agree given the support behind the strategy.
That being said, Spirit doesn't appear to be leaving their budget customers behind completely. For now, at least. The company recently announced the addition of 37 new routes throughout the continental United States to a variety of new cities. The routes will be low-cost, fitting the company's previous model. How that dovetails into their push for more affluent passengers remains to be seen.
As Spirit's fortunes turned sour in 2024, Frontier Group made a bid for the airline worth more than $2 billion USD. That offer was rejected because Spirit felt the restructuring plan would be better for investors. Until entering bankruptcy protection, Spirit was known as the largest ultra low cost carrier in the entirety of North America. After rejecting the Frontier bid and moving forward with their restructuring plan, it will be interesting to see what look this new version of Spirit has.