South Florida’s hometown airline, Spirit Airlines, could be flying its final flights tonight, with multiple news outlets reporting the ultra-low-cost carrier may be shut down by Saturday. The news follows weeks of failed talks with creditors and the Trump administration.
Travel experts say the twice-bankrupt airline is facing imminent liquidation, leaving thousands of employees and customers in limbo.
“At this point, it sounds like we’ve reached the end for Spirit Airlines. It seems like the airline will liquidate any day now,” said travel expert Eric Rosen from The Points Guy.
Many passengers were caught by surprise, including Spirit customer Roger Hayder, who showed up at the airport after his flight was canceled.
“I made a reservation, and I tried to get the boarding card this morning, and it said canceled. I tried to text them and talk to them, nothing,” Hayder said.
Fort Lauderdale is home to Spirit, which at its height employed more than 3,000 employees in South Florida. Some have already been laid off, while others are looking for new jobs and waiting to see what happens next.
“I looked in the Wall Street Journal, and it said that they’re going to be in the process of shutting down next week,” said Shawn Rowan. “I won’t be able to fly Spirit. That sucks because I live in Atlantic City and we have no other airlines flying back and forth to Florida”.
The uncertainty is weighing heavily on travelers. Hayder, who has a return ticket for Sunday, admitted, “I’m in lala land. I don’t know what’s going to happen”.
Travel experts advise stranded passengers to contact their credit card companies for potential refunds. “If you have a reservation on Spirit and you paid by credit card, you can contact your credit card company for a refund. If you are mid-trip, unfortunately, your return reservation is probably worthless,” said travel expert Henry Hartevelt.
