If you regularly travel with Spirit Airlines, it's probably well past time you started making new plans. Since 1992, Spirit has offered an ultra-low-cost option for air travelers. As recently as 2023, it was the largest low-cost airline in the United States as well as being the seventh largest overall. The company established itself as an affordable alternative to larger airlines, though that may be changing.
Spirit recently cut 24 different routes mostly across the United States. These rollbacks will take place over the next few months, with groups of routes slowly being cut from the roster. In addition to the national routes, two international routes will also be disappearing. This is not the first batch of routes to be cut, or at least planned to be cut, in 2024 and is part of larger issues. Spirit has been suffering from various financial issues over the year with the situation declining at a rather rapid pace.
Attempts to merge with other low-cost airlines such as JetBlue and Frontier Airlines both fell through, leading to bankruptcy protection conversations. The route cutbacks were announced before the Frontier negotiations failed, which will likely lead to further disruptions in service and more cut routes. Long-term, it remains to be seen what will be left of Spirit when the dust from all of this settles.
In the meantime, be thoughtful when booking through Spirit. Bankruptcy protection filings are expected in the coming weeks. What that could mean for your travel plans should you include Spirit in them is hard to say. For now, be advised that several routes have been canceled with more expected in the not-too-distant future. If Spirit survives the restructuring process that will likely follow as part of bankruptcy protection, the company could look a lot different than the one travelers are used to.