How Spirit Airlines’ demise will benefit rivals — and raise airfares even more

How Spirit Airlines' demise will benefit rivals — and raise airfares even more

• Airlines have wasted no time in beefing up their schedules in the wake of Spirit Airlines' collapse.
• Carriers are competing for Spirit's routes and gates.
• The budget airline collapsed after years of mounting problems that were compounded by this year's surge in jet fuel prices because of the Iran war.

Just hours after Spirit Airlines collapsed, its rivals unveiled their new flight plans.

Airlines had actually been at work for months on their route changes as Spirit's shutdown looked more and more likely. Some new flights start this week. It comes after Spirit abruptly ceased operations overnight Saturday, stranding thousands of customers.

The quick move shows how carriers are vying for Spirit's valuable assets, like airport gates and a customer base that has one less choice when booking. That could drive up airfare even more than it already has risen after the fuel-driven hikes this year, analysts said.

Even though Spirit's already pared-down summer schedule was about 1.5% of U.S. domestic capacity, it could have a broader impact on the industry and travelers' wallets, Barclays airline analyst Brandon Oglenski said in a note Monday.

"Beyond direct revenue capture from Spirit's prior network, we also suspect industry pricing could benefit significantly for nearly all airlines given the removal of excess point-to-point capacity, which will likely drive even higher unit revenue outcomes in the near term," he said.

For now, other airlines are announcing their new flights as they look to fill the gaps from Spirit's absence and compete for Spirit's routes and gates.

Breeze Airways is launching a flight out of Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Charleston, South Carolina. The carrier also plans to run year-round service from Atlantic City to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina and Tampa, Florida.

JetBlue Airways, previously the No. 2 airline at Spirit's home hub of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, announced new flights from there to a host of destinations, including Barranquilla and Cali in Colombia; Baltimore; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Indianapolis. It also said it would add new nonstops from the South Florida hub to Chicago; Detroit; Houston; Nashville, Tennessee, and Ponce, Puerto Rico.

"We're stepping up for Fort Lauderdale to ensure the availability of air service in this market," JetBlue President Marty St. George said in a release announcing the changes.

JetBlue is also boosting capacity from Fort Lauderdale to Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; Raleigh-Durham; and Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros, in the Dominican Republic.

It's not a new tack for the carriers. Late last summer, days after Spirit filed for its second bankruptcy protection in less than a year, airlines also added service to airports where Spirit had a large presence. At that time, Spirit was working on cutting flights to reduce costs as it tried to emerge from bankruptcy, which it was aiming to do in mid-2026.

That didn't happen, and talks for a Trump administration loan of up to $500 million to keep the airline afloat fell apart late last week.

Spirit, the country's famous budget carrier, collapsed after years of compounding problems — some within management's control and some without — that were eventually were too heavy to overcome.

Read more about Spirit Airlines' recent challenges

• ‘Godspeed my friend’: Inside the final hours of Spirit Airlines
• Spirit Airlines shut down. Here’s what travelers need to know if they have tickets
• Clock ticks on Spirit Airlines as bondholders weigh Trump bailout. Here's what could happen next
• Spirit Airlines is on shakier ground after avoiding hard decisions in bankruptcy
• Judge blocks JetBlue-Spirit merger after DOJ’s antitrust challenge
• Who loses if JetBlue buys Spirit? Comedians

Along with rolling out new routes, other airlines — including United Airlines, Frontier Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue — swooped in over the weekend and capped fares for stranded travelers who had booked flights on Spirit.

Spirit said it was automatically processing refunds for customers.

United said about 14,000 Spirit customers booked tickets on United on Saturday. Southwest said it took in more than 20,000.

"If you fly with us during this time, I think you'll love what comes with your ticket on the world's largest airline," United's chief customer officer, David Kinzelman, said in note early Saturday. "We can take you across the country and around the world, with more flights across the Atlantic and Pacific than any airline. Plus, you'll get friendly and reliable service from the best team in the industry."

Now the industry is watching other budget airlines after Spirit's collapse.

The surge in fuel prices since the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran in February has been particularly punishing for low-cost airlines, which don't have the giant credit card and corporate travel customer bases that larger airlines enjoy.

Spirit's one-time potential merger partner and fellow budget carrier Frontier reports results on Tuesday and its executives will face questions about their own plans and prospects for the year.

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