Tyler In Flight

The Biden admin blocking JetBlue’s acquisition did not kill Spirit. Nor did $4+ jet fuel alone - though that clearly hastened its demise. Spirit was circling the drain for years. It’s gone now because: - richer pilot contracts raised its costs significantly. You can’t have an ultra-low-cost carrier with high costs - it tripled down on the cheap “revenge travel” boom post-pandemic, betting it would continue - but travel demand rapidly shifted to “premium” travel and heading abroad - two segments Spirit can’t serve - massive engine issues forced Spirit to ground a large (& expensive) chunk of its fleet - the big one: Buoyed by massive hubs and even bigger frequent flyer programs, major airlines like AA, Delta & United finally figured out how to weaponize stingy basic economy fares and fill larger planes with passengers who previously booked Spirit

Ever seen first class like this? An aircraft flying with no seats! 📹: ameen_shaikh.

“The business model clearly doesn’t work, Spirit should be allowed to fail.” The problem is this is bigger than Spirit. The question now should be: Why doesn’t the business model work here while low-cost carriers flourish in Europe & Asia? Is there something fundamentally different about American travelers & what they want? Maybe, but not enough. Did US airlines do it worse? Also no, IMO. There are lots of factors (rising costs far beyond jet fuel being a big one) but one differentiator here is entrenched major US airlines have been permitted to dominate hub after hub & loyalty programs (read as: credit card revenue) that dwarf what exists in every other country, allowing big airlines to offset otherwise unprofitable flying. You need scale to truly compete in the airline industry. Major carriers were able to bury Spirit with that scale. There’s a reason why new upstarts like Breeze & Avelo really only fly between second-, third- and fourth-tier cities… As more airlines fail or merge, the big get bigger. This feels like a turning point. It’s only going to get worse. And while the lower cost end of the market vanishes, everyone else is moving upmarket: chasing “premium” travel at higher fares … yet retaining the even higher nickel-and-dime fees you all hate. This isn’t just about Spirit. We’re returning to that so-called “Golden Age of Air Travel” … and I’m not sure consumers are going to like it.

Say what you want about Spirit Airlines, but in 33 years of revenue service they never lost a single plane.

i have unused flight credits??? hello?????

Spirit Airlines Expected to Cease Operations Around 3 A.M. ET Saturday — WSJ