Spirit Airlines shuts down overnight, strands passengers at Fort Lauderdale airport

Passengers arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were still being dropped at Terminal 4 on Saturday, only to learn at the curb that their Spirit Airlines flights no longer existed. Ricardo Tejeda summed up the shock with three words: “I just found out.” The airline had already begun an immediate orderly wind-down and canceled all flights effective immediately after failing to secure an 11th-hour bailout with bondholders and the Trump administration.

Spirit’s collapse landed hard at the airport that had long served as its home base. The terminal was unusually quiet, a stark contrast to the nonstop traffic Spirit once generated in Fort Lauderdale. The carrier, which had entered its second bankruptcy in less than a year, said 17,000 direct and indirect employees lost their jobs. Its last flight, NK1833 from Detroit to Dallas Fort Worth, landed shortly after midnight local time, closing the book on more than three decades in business.

The shutdown sent stranded travelers scrambling for the cheapest way home. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines quickly rolled out rescue fares or reduced fares for displaced Spirit customers. JetBlue said it was offering $99 one-way rescue fares to travelers who could show proof of a valid Spirit itinerary on the same route through Wednesday, May 6, and it planned to add 11 destinations from Fort Lauderdale. Southwest’s deal was available only in person at airport ticket counters through Wednesday, May 6, while United allowed bookings online for up to two weeks.

Refunds are likely to move more slowly than the cancellations that triggered them. Spirit said passengers who bought tickets directly with a credit or debit card would be refunded automatically. Travelers who booked through a travel agency must seek refunds from that agency, while reimbursement for tickets bought with loyalty points, vouchers or prior credits will be sorted out later in bankruptcy. The U.S. Department of Transportation says passengers may also pursue a credit-card chargeback under the Fair Credit Billing Act when service is not delivered, and its guidance says major cancellations or schedule changes can create refund rights on flights within, to or from the United States.

The airline’s exit also reshapes the market it helped define. Bobby Schroeter, chief commercial officer at Frontier, said Spirit “played an important role in expanding access to affordable travel and bringing more low fares to more people,” a reminder of how closely Spirit’s discount model pressured rivals on routes from New York, Miami, Detroit and Los Angeles to Latin America and the Caribbean. With Spirit gone, carriers moving into its airports may absorb some traffic, but some fares are likely to rise as one of the country’s most aggressive low-cost players disappears overnight.