Does its Spirit live on for stranded travelers?
Spirit Airlines shutdown has resulted in the cancellation of dozens of the budget carrier’s flights in New York and New Jersey, leaving oodles of flyers high and dry.
The discount carrier scrapped 34 flights for Saturday to and from Newark Liberty International Airport and 18 at LaGuardia, Gothamist reported.
All told, Spirit had to cancel 277 of the carrier’s flights within, or in and out of the country.
In a press release, Spirit reps announced that it was forced to shutter after a surge in fuel prices impacted restructuring efforts, marking the end of the nation’s cheapest budget carrier options.
While President Trump last month proposed that the US government could “just buy” the nosediving carrier, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued against a $500 million bailout as he felt it counterproductive to “put good money after bad.”
“Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure,” Spirit President and CEO Dave Davis declared in a statement. “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.”
To help flyers left in the lurch, the 34-year-old budget carrier pledged to automatically refund tickets bought via a credit or debit card, but urged those who reserved via travel agent to reach out to the person directly.
However, travelers who booked with voucher, airline credit or Free Spirit points will have to wait for the bankruptcy process before they can seek reimbursement.
Duffy also announced that he’d be allowing stranded Spirit passengers to rebook airlines at capped or discounted prices. The airline reportedly charged an average of $200 for a one-way ticket.
“We’ve activated our airline partners to ensure passengers are not stranded, communities maintain route access, fares do not skyrocket, and Spirit’s workforce is connected to new job opportunities,” Duffy said.
Participating airlines include JetBlue, Southwest, Delta, and United, which will be making the reduced prices available for various time periods.
JetBlue’s and Southwest’s offers both lasts for 72 hours, although rebookings with the latter must be made at the airport counter.
Meanwhile, Delta’s deal is good for five days while United’s is valid for a whopping two weeks. Frontier is also offering discounts for the next week.
One of the better offers comes courtesy of Allegiant Airlines, which pledges to freeze prices on routes that overlap with Spirit.
It will also offer 50% off of base fares through May 10.
It’s not just displaced Spirit customers who are being offered a safety net.
Duffy declared that the airlines are working to help find jobs for the thousands of Spirit employees who were displaced by the shutdown.
Spirit’s final trip was Flight 1833 which travelled from Detroit to Dallas, touching down early Saturday morning just after midnight.
The company X bid farewell to customers in an X post at 2:35 am Saturday.
“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry for the last 33 years and had hoped to serve our Guests for many years to come,” they said.
