US budget carrier Spirit Airlines goes out of business after 34 years

A Spirit Airlines 319 Airbus (Charles Krupa/AP)

Spirit Airlines, an upstart that shook the industry with its irreverent ads and deep discount fares, has announced that it has gone out of business after 34 years.

The ultra-low cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately”.

The airline said on its website that all flights have been cancelled and customer service is no longer available.

“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the announcement said.

The company advised customers that they could expect refunds, but there would be no help in booking travel on other airlines.

The shutdown was expected after Friday came and went without a needed government bailout for the cash-strapped business.

President Donald Trump had considered a bailout (Matt Rourke/AP)

US president Donald Trump said on Friday that his administration had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached.

Mr Trump floated the idea of a bailout last week after the airline found itself in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years with jet fuel prices soaring because of the Iran war.

About 17,000 jobs could be impacted by a shutdown, Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner said.

Spirit has struggled financially since the Covid-19 pandemic, weighed down by rising operating costs and growing debt.

By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than 2.5 billion dollars since the start of 2020.

The budget carrier sought bankruptcy protection again in August 2025, when it reported having 8.1 billion dollars in debts and 8.6 billion dollars in assets, according to court filings.

Supporters of a rescue including labour unions representing Spirit’s pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers said a collapse would put thousands of Americans out of work and hurt consumers by reducing airline competition and increasing airfares.

Budget-conscious and leisure travellers would likely feel Spirit’s absence the most, especially in places where the airline has a big footprint such as Las Vegas and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

The carrier flew about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly half a million fewer than during the same month a year earlier, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Spirit also has sharply reduced its capacity, with about half as many seats available this month than in May 2024.