Many airlines have been struggling in recent years. This isn’t a surprise, as the Covid pandemic basically halted all travel.
Then, once it became safe to fly again, no one could afford to, thanks to record-high inflation that resulted from supply chain disruption. The threat of tariffs and the resulting economic uncertainty in the last year or so also didn’t help.
Budget-conscious travelers have been hit especially hard by all of these factors, which is why budget airlines have been facing worse struggles than more premium carriers. And Spirit, the ultimate budget airline, may have been hit the hardest of all.
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In fact, Spirit was forced into bankruptcy protection to restructure its debts. Now, the airline carrier has emerged from Chapter 11, after having received some fresh investment dollars. This does not mean that everything is smooth sailing (or flying) for Spirit going forward, though.
The airline still has to find a way to become profitable, and one way that it is doing that is by trying to streamline its flight schedule. Unfortunately for travelers, this means that Spirit has canceled hundreds of flights through September.
If you are planning on traveling with Spirit, you should be aware of these cancellations and understand how they could affect your travel options.
Image source: Shutterstock
Here are the flights that Spirit Airlines has canceled
Spirit is cutting a very substantial number of its flights in the coming months. In fact, according to Simple Flying, around 26% of all of the carrier’s planned trips are on the chopping block during the third quarter of this year.
Related: JetBlue cancels all flights to major US airport, offers customer refunds
The destinations that are affected include:
- Fort Lauderdale, which will see 15% fewer flights
- Orlando, which will see 5% fewer flights
- Las Vegas, which will see 42% fewer fights
- Newark, where there’s a 21% cut in flights
- Houston Intercontinental, where there will be 30% fewer flights
- Atlanta, which is losing 26% of flights
- Los Angeles, where 45% of flights will be cut
- Dallas/Fort Worth, which will lose 42% of its flights
- Baltimore, which will see a 24% reduction in flights
This is a huge number of destinations where travelers who were hoping to fly on Spirit Airlines will now not have nearly as many options.
Travelers need to be aware of Spirit Airlines flight schedule changes
It’s unfortunate for travelers when they find themselves facing fewer options for their planned vacation.
These cuts may be especially likely to impact budget-conscious flyers. That’s because Spirit is often the lowest-cost carrier in many markets. If there are fewer trips with this affordable airline, it may be harder for people with limited vacation budgets to get away.
Still, Spirit needs to make changes to try to get back on track toward profitability. Dramatically reducing flights is one of those changes. Spirit is making these cuts in part because of the fact that the Airline is planning on flying fewer aircraft by year’s end. It can’t get to as many places with fewer planes in the sky.
Related: Southwest Airlines cancels hundreds of flights from July to Sept.
It is also cutting parts of its network that have contributed to losses or that are simply not worthwhile areas to fly to. This is a lot of flights, as Simply Flying indicates that the schedule Spirit submitted to Cirium Diio shows an average of 616 daily movements (which are combined landings and takeoffs) during the third quarter of the year, compared to 831 during the same three months a year prior.
More on travel:
- U.S. government issues serious warning for cruise passengers
- Delta Air Lines makes a baggage change that travelers will like
- United Airlines passenger incident triggers quick response
It remains to be seen if Spirit’s strategy of dramatically reducing flights is a success. In the meantime, however, passengers will need to be aware that they may have fewer flying options and should consider looking into other carriers if Spirit can no longer meet their needs.
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