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Spirit Airlines ceases operations and enters liquidation

financeMay 2, 2026801,495

Spirit Airlines ceased operations and entered liquidation on May 2, 2026, after failing to secure a $500 million government bailout and creditor support. The carrier said a roughly $360 million spike in aviation fuel tied to the Iran war made continued operations unsustainable. About 15,000 employees are affected as Spirit canceled all flights and began winding down. JetBlue announced 11 new routes from Fort Lauderdale and other carriers offered limited relief while passengers seek refunds and alternative travel plans, a shift that cuts U.S. low-cost capacity and could raise fares on affected routes.

Mark Jacob
@markjacob.bsky.social

Republicans did this. Their illegal war closed the Strait of Hormuz, jacked up fuel prices and caused Spirit Airlines to shut down, throwing 17,000 people out of work.

303Yesterday
Brunswicke 🇱🇷🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽6

Let’s be clear - Spirit was circling the drain before Trump launched his ill conceived war. The closure of the Strait just made its demise a certainty. Spirit had been operating on fairly narrow margins since the early 2010’s. It finally caught up to them in 2024.

Patrick Matthews4

Spirit was already a "dead man walking" even before Trump started his idiotic and illegal war. Even absent the war I wouldn't have expected Spirit to have still been a going concern by 2030.

Pitchbot Reply Guy
@pitchbotturd02.bsky.social

Smells Like Teen Spirit Airlines If you've ever flown on a plain, you know people tend to come as they are on Spirit Airlines. But now that the company is ex utero, many are wondering why Donald didn't want it for a sunbeam? Is he dumb? Or was there something in the way? by Maureen Dowd

184Yesterday
pluffgator.bsky.social2

Should have taken some lithium

Col. Boozy Badger
@boozybadger.lawyersandliquor.com

RIP Spirit Airlines, the site of that one time a guy in a Fox Motorsports cap sat beside me on a flight to Chicago in December and I got to play “Car Guy or Furry” until I heard the telegram notification noise immediately followed by the Grindr notification noise from his phone.

168Yesterday
Col. Boozy Badger88

A spirit airline is like a ghost ship but without the shanties

Joey-Poey2

hello from a motorsports employed furry :3

🌹WeegieFromWA 🍀
@onefussyone.bsky.social

Spirit Airlines - "Out of control fuel prices caused by the Iran war are the reason why we had to shut down." MAGA - That's not possible, we won that war. I saw it on "X" and FOX.

78Yesterday
PBS News
@pbsnews.org

The collapse of the U.S.-based Spirit Airlines may mark the end of an era for travelers with a certain financial sensibility. But if you've been snagged in their now-defunct flight schedule, here are some things to know on how to get home, and get whole. https://to.pbs.org/4cNasGX

72Yesterday
An old tired Goose4

certain sensebilities is a polite way to say poor people who had to fly to a funeral or somewhere else for an emergency

nometahere.bsky.social2

Good. They were a shitty company to begin with. Nothing but problems every time.

Gyudon Giovanni2

By "travelers with a certain financial sensibility" do you actually mean "travelers who can't afford overpriced airline tickets because they're not wealthy?"

The New York Times
@nytimes.com

“Even if they go back into business, never again,” said a Spirit Airlines passenger who was on one of its last flights. The budget carrier abruptly shut down for good on Saturday, canceling flights and leaving passengers to rush to make other plans.

66Yesterday
Andy "Andyfa" Schwarz2

passegers reporting being relieved that water would cost less as they waited in the airport than if Spirit had actually flown them.

The Math Maestra
@moniselseward.bsky.social

17,000 Spirit Airlines employees have lost their jobs. As much as we joke about their planes, they still provided a service. Whew. When will this end?

41Yesterday
Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸
@rweingarten.bsky.social

Spirit Airlines shutting down isn’t just a business story, it’s an affordability story. After bailout talks collapsed & fuel costs surged w/ the war with Iran, its path out of bankruptcy fell apart. www.nbcnews.com/business/con...

28Yesterday
Scott Horton
@robertscotthorton.bsky.social

Spirit Airlines says its failure has to do with exactly one thing: the dramatic spike in price of aviation fuel due to the Iran War which now makes it impossible to operate the airlines at a profit.

34Yesterday
Blackbird ✨🐦‍⬛💙
@hometreez.bsky.social

Spirit airlines literally said the rise in fuel prices made it impossible to continue.

45Yesterday
Psycho Pete
@psychopete.bsky.social

It’s kind of nice that I don’t have to add Spirit Airline to the boycott guide. I guess. psychopete1.substack.com/p/psycho-pet...

23Yesterday
Riana
@riana.bsky.social

Spirit Airlines shutting down three years almost to the day since this perfect 24-word story feels like a fitting coda

26Yesterday
The Rev. Keakealani
@keakealani.bsky.social

Today’s headlines are such a missed opportunity to say “Spirit airlines gave up the ghost”

23Yesterday
Paul Lander
@paullander.bsky.social

Spirit Airline shutdown because of Iran war. So Iran shot down one plane. Big deal , Trump brought down whole airline company

17Yesterday
Catherynne M. Valente
@catvalente.bsky.social

Leave it to #SpiritAirlines to go out of business in the most #Spirit Airlines way possible. But I guess Trump’s real problem with Bush was always that his stupid Middle East wars didn’t single-handedly shut down enough companies for no actual objective of any kind.

24Yesterday
3 sources
aviationnews.euSpirit Airlines Collapse Marks First Aviation Casualty of Iran Warnbcnews.comSpirit Airlines is closing down. Thousands of employees and travelers are impacted.nrk.noFlyselskapet Spirit Airlines konkurs

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