Spirit Airlines Nears Full Refunds After Shutdown Strands Thousands
Spirit Airlines has nearly completed refunding customers for flights abruptly canceled over the weekend as the company ceased operations. The budget airline left thousands of passengers and employees stranded after deciding on Saturday to shut down a business that had been struggling for years, with a surge in jet fuel prices delivering the final blow.
Spirit had scheduled approximately 4,000 flights through 15 May, according to Reuters. The airline has not turned a profit since 2019, as reported by CNBC, and had unsuccessfully attempted to restructure in recent years after two bankruptcy filings. The sharp rise in oil costs resulting from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran dealt the airline its death blow, Spirit stated.
“Unfortunately, despite the company’s best efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,” the statement read. “With no additional funding available to the company, Spirit had no choice but to begin this wind-down.”
Political Blame Game Over Spirit’s Collapse
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, however, blamed the Joe Biden administration for the airline’s failure in comments to the media on Saturday. The Justice Department under Biden blocked a proposed merger that would have joined Spirit and JetBlue.
“Many at the time said this was a disaster, this merger should have been allowed,” Duffy said. “And this today would indicate this is not better for travelers, this is not better for pricing, this is not better for competition – actually it’s worse.”
Duffy urged Spirit customers to stay home. “If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport – there will be no one here to assist you,” Duffy said. “What Spirit Airlines is now going to do is go through an orderly liquidation process. We’ll see how that goes through the course of the next couple of days.”
Conservative critics, including Duffy, highlighted comments from Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, who praised the Biden administration’s blocking of the merger back in 2024. Warren had said at the time that the merger would have led to “fewer flights and higher fares.”
In response to the criticism, Warren tweeted on X that Spirit collapsed due to spiking oil prices, adding that the “JetBlue merger failed because a judge, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said the deal was illegal.” “Republicans are desperate to shift blame from higher costs hitting families,” Warren tweeted.
