It was announced last week that Spirit Airlines will be entering a new round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. One Mile at a Time reports that they will be furloughing about 1,800 flight attendants (roughly one-third of total flight attendants, according to OMAAT) as well as many pilots on December 1st. This is part of a planned 25% reduction in capacity that Airline Geeks reports will include cutting 40 routes and ending service entirely to Hartford, CT (BDL) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), in addition to previously announced cuts. Unfortunately, none of that breeds confidence among those holding tickets on other routes. Hopefully, Spirit finds a way to turn things around.
40 routes will be cut, service to many airports ending
Earlier this month, it was announced that Spirit would cut service to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and San Jose, California. We can now add Hartford (ending October 31, 2025) and Minneapolis (ending December 1, 2025) to that list, along with 40 routes being cut (the specifics of which have not been announced to my knowledge).
Customers with affected reservations should be eligible for a refund or reaccommodation. That’s nice, but it is likely cold comfort to those with existing reservations, particularly during busy holiday periods.
I’m personally disappointed to see service from Hartford end as my family has flown Spirit from Hartford a few times to visit family thanks to nonstop Spirit service that fit our needs and made it worth the drive (particularly since parking at Hartford can be incredibly reasonable and there is an Escape Lounge in the airport, though that lounge was closed for renovations when I was there this summer). My experience flying Spirit has actually been largely positive, with friendly crews and newer planes. Their business model has largely relied on ancillary fees, but if you know that going in, you won’t be surprised, and I have found the experience to be reasonable.
But more important than my personal disappointment is the way that changes like these may shake customer confidence. I’d probably be hesitant to buy a Spirit ticket without a backup plan. While I would hope that these will be the final set of cuts and that Spirit can find a path forward to success, it is hard to feel overly confident about that. While I doubt that the airline will collapse in the short term, I think it’s anybody’s guess as to whether and where additional cuts may occur. That’s certainly not a good look for the airline. I’d probably be booking a backup flight on another carrier (using miles) if I were booking Spirit and really needed to be at my destination.
But that may create some short-term opportunity for deal-hunters, as I imagine that Spirit will need to continue to offer very attractive fares to get customers to take the risk. Just as I would be hesitant to put all my eggs in one basket in terms of booking a Spirit flight, I’d be hesitant to collect a large balance of Free Spirit points. Since awards are already dynamically priced, and it is hard to know when service to your airport may change, I’d not want to be stockpiling a huge balance of Spirit points. But I’d still probably consider booking with Spirit so long as I have the ability to pivot if my flight/route gets cancelled.
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Stupid Jet Blue. They torpedoed the Frontier merger. I blame them for screwing them over.
We need spirit to keep competitor prices low. This is bad news for all of us and the free market.
Love having Hartford as my home airport… said no one ever
It’s a lot better than it used to be and easier than driving down to New York City. Having the escape lounge is great, although it has been ridiculously packed since it became a priority pass benefit. It was a lot better when it was just an American Express platinum benefit.
There’s a temporary Escape lounge at BDL now. It’s basically packaged sandwiches and snacks in an abandoned gate area.
Better than nothing, but not much.
I haven’t been in a few months. What happened to the escape lounge? Are they remodeling it? It has been ridiculously packed since priority pass added it as a benefit, which has been annoying.
Closed for refurbishment. Not sure if it’s being expanded too.
I think last I saw it was due to open in October but I might not be right about that.