Spirit Airlines, which second Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has turned to Chapter 7, has now officially ceased operations at 2:30 AM ET on Saturday May 2, 2026.
Spirit Airlines was the first Ryanair-style Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) to advertise very low fares, but you were then hit with all kinds of ancillary fees for anything extra, such as bringing a carry-on, which was something travelers were not accustomed to in the market.
You can access Spirit Airlines here.
The airline plans to refund all unused tickets that passengers have directly purchased from the airline. For tickets that were purchased through an agent, the agent is responsible for the refund process.
Passengers who are currently traveling on Spirit Airlines need to find other transportation back to their home/base or to their next destination.
Spirit Airlines Announcement:
Information to Passengers:
Spirit’s Press Release:
Download (PDF, 123KB)
Conclusion
Spirit Airlines was a very successful ULCC at first, but it became a “joke” among travelers because of its “junk” fees (read: ancillary revenue) that legacy carriers in the US have now adopted.
You could argue that legacy carriers outsmarted Spirit Airlines with their no-frills basic economy fares.
Spirit Airlines was merging with JetBlue, but the US government blocked the merger. Spirit was initially trying to merge with Frontier before JetBlue stepped in.
These airline liquidations are quite rare in the United States, and the last “major” one was when Aloha Airlines folded in 2008.
It is not uncommon, however, for the US airlines to go through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, as all the legacies have done it at least once, if not multiple times.
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