Spirit Airlines could begin liquidation this week

5,722 Views | 48 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by carl spacklers hat
ErnestEndeavor
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11:30p, 4/15/26
The budget Florida-based carrier could be toast, per "anonymous sources" who spoke to Bloomberg. They are trying to manage their second bankruptcy and it isn't going well.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/15/spirit-airlines-could-liquidate-as-early-as-this-week-sources-say.html

Seems like their no frills reputation may have gotten the best of them and they couldn't escape meme status. JetBlue tried to acquire them last year but that effort was shut down by a federal judge (apparently only the Big Three are allowed to buy their competition).
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SlackerAg
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7:49a, 4/16/26
AG
Carnival Cruise Lines should buy them to offer an all-inclusive "Fight Club" vacation package.
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Teslag
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7:50a, 4/16/26
AG
I once hopped a ride on a Blackhawk into Al Hasakah, Syria. We had to drop straight down into the airfield to avoid any surface to air attacks. That was the second worst time I've feared for my life in air travel. The first was walking through a spirit airlines terminal.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to Teslag • 8:39a, 4/16/26
AG
Terminal A at IAH...
The Feral terminal.

Zero budget no frills attract the lowest fruit travelers that are most affected by any economic hiccups.
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I bleed maroon
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9:08a, 4/16/26
AG
You guys are hilarious!

Ironically, although I wouldn't fly Spirit myself, I really like their unbundled no-frills pricing model conceptually. In fact, I've flown similar European airlines (i.e. RyanAir, Vueling, etc.) without a second thought. It's funny how elitist we can be about our own "value" alternatives. Even Southwest still has a bit of a stigma with some business travelers.

Oh well, farewell sweet Spirit Air - it's been nice not knowing you.
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Maroon Elephant
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11:19a, 4/16/26
AG
We once flew what I would consider one of the most Spirit of Spirit routes that exists: DFW to ATL. It wasn't as bad as everyone says it is. It was much worse. So much worse. The one thing that was really fun, though, was when we hit some nasty turbulence. The loudest, most turnt up flight I've ever been on quickly turned into the quietest flight I've ever been on.
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YouBet
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11:59a, 4/16/26
AG
Worst livery in the airline world. Good riddance.

Of course, this means their third world customers likely end up on SWA now.
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Corps_Ag12
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In reply to YouBet • 12:51p, 4/16/26
AG
YouBet said:
Worst livery in the airline world. Good riddance.

Of course, this means their third world customers likely end up on SWA now.


There's still Frontier
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YouBet
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In reply to Corps_Ag12 • 12:53p, 4/16/26
AG
Corps_Ag12 said:
YouBet said:
Worst livery in the airline world. Good riddance.

Of course, this means their third world customers likely end up on SWA now.


There's still Frontier


Oh yes. And they do go to ATL.
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I bleed maroon
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In reply to Corps_Ag12 • 12:54p, 4/16/26
AG
Corps_Ag12 said:
YouBet said:
Worst livery in the airline world. Good riddance.

Of course, this means their third world customers likely end up on SWA now.


There's still Frontier

Don't forget Allegiant!
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Jeeper79
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In reply to SlackerAg • 3:56p, 4/16/26
AG
SlackerAg said:
Carnival Cruise Lines should buy them to offer an all-inclusive "Fight Club" vacation package.
The booze cruise starts on the tarmac.
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chris1515
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5:11p, 4/16/26
AG
I used to fly them from DFW to Vegas. Their Big Seat was a great deal. They used to have a ton of daily flights on that route but the last couple times I looked, they were down to just one or two a day. That was a bad sign for a route that was always full…
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KALALL
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8:34p, 4/16/26
AG
I've flown them several times. It has never been a good experience, but it was always cheap and surprisingly I never had a cancelation or even a delay. Now that I'm married and have kids my Spirit flying days were probably numbered anyway.
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Mas89
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9:02p, 4/16/26
AG
Spirit had the worst customer service reps I've ever encountered. They owed us a voucher or refund 10 years ago after an illness/ missed flight to the kids ball tournament. Only booked Spirit to stay with the rest of the team.

After dealing with several Ferals online and on calls, I told them no mas. Wasn't worth my time and I had no intention of ever flying them again if it was free in the future. I actually enjoyed telling the manager Daquisha that. What a cee u next Tuesday she was. Hope she's still there.
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Less Evil Hank Scorpio
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9:08p, 4/16/26
AG
I actually think the idea of an airline that allows you to only pay for the services you actually use is a good one. It's like the ultimate "a la carte" option. Unfortunately because it results in a cheaper ticket, they attracted a customer base with the least disposable income and ability to weather economic uncertainty.
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Texag5324
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10:09p, 4/16/26
Ive flown spirit many times and never really had any major issues with them compared to other airlines. I remember flying United one way and spirit on the way back, and spirit had more leg room than United in coach. I think the hate was their customer base tended to be pretty hood. But other than that it was fine for getting somewhere as cheaply as possible.
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Diggity
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10:24a, 4/17/26
AG
this board is a sheltered bunch. Only the high-end clientele of SWA allowed.
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northeastag
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In reply to Texag5324 • 1:17p, 4/17/26
AG
Texag5324 said:
Ive flown spirit many times and never really had any major issues with them compared to other airlines. I remember flying United one way and spirit on the way back, and spirit had more leg room than United in coach. I think the hate was their customer base tended to be pretty hood. But other than that it was fine for getting somewhere as cheaply as possible.

Agee. My flight from Austin to West Palm was cancelled once due to severe weather, and had to jump on the only available flight the next day (spirit). Wasn't a bad flight at all.
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Owen Kellogg
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1:30p, 4/17/26
AG
Do budget airlines pay their pilots less?

I'm all good with no frills until it comes to safety and competence.
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ErnestEndeavor
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In reply to Mas89 • 6:18p, 4/17/26
The customer service people were probably burned out by having to deal with that clientele on a regular basis.
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YouBet
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In reply to ErnestEndeavor • 7:01p, 4/17/26
AG
ErnestEndeavor said:
The customer service people were probably burned out by having to deal with that clientele on a regular basis.


Would have to pay me $1M a year to be a gate agent for Spirit. Still might not be enough.
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Pahdz
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In reply to Owen Kellogg • 11:37a, 4/18/26
Owen Kellogg said:
Do budget airlines pay their pilots less?

I'm all good with no frills until it comes to safety and competence.


My wife's cousin was a captain with them and had said "I don't know what happens in the back but they treat us and the flight attendants well."

He did leave in January though because he saw the writing on the wall.
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500,000ags
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12:59p, 4/18/26
AG
Domestic air travel has gotten too cheap. The whole thing needs consolidation if that means less competition and the ability to profit on a good plane, with good service, and good reliability.
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bradtheag
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10:31p, 4/18/26
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Worst 2.5 hours of my life. A 6am spirit flight from Las Vegas to IAH after a 36 hour bachelor trip to Vegas where I slept possibly 2 hours and ingested way too much alcohol
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permabull
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8:14a, 4/19/26
AG
Comparing southwest to spirit I would actually say the spirit customers are better. At least in the flights I have been on the crowd is younger and know the drill so it feels like we board and get off the plane faster. I haven't flown swa with assigned seats yet so maybe it's better now but the boarding process always felt slow with a lot of confused passengers.
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YouBet
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In reply to permabull • 8:20a, 4/19/26
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permabull said:
Comparing southwest to spirit I would actually say the spirit customers are better. At least in the flights I have been on the crowd is younger and know the drill so it feels like we board and get off the plane faster. I haven't flown swa with assigned seats yet so maybe it's better now but the boarding process always felt slow with a lot of confused passengers.


Been a mixed bag on my ~10 or assigned seat SWA flights. Some have boarded faster than open seating process and some have boarded slower. All depends on the level of dumbass on the flight, I guess.
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permabull
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In reply to YouBet • 8:24a, 4/19/26
AG
I have a flight swa flight next month with seats 8a/b we have the priority card so we apparently get to try and upgrade to extra leg room for free 48 hours before the flight so I will see if we get lucky. Short flight anyway so row 8 is fine if not
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YouBet
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In reply to permabull • 8:31a, 4/19/26
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permabull said:
I have a flight swa flight next month with seats 8a/b we have the priority card so we apparently get to try and upgrade to extra leg room for free 48 hours before the flight so I will see if we get lucky. Short flight anyway so row 8 is fine if not


In m experience, you should have no problem upgrading. If the flight isn't full, the open seats are pretty much always in the extra legroom section.
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62strat
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12:23p, 4/20/26
AG
say what you want about spirit, but once upon a time, I flew solo DEN-DAL for $40 when I needed to one way drive a vehicle back home, and another time solo DEN-IAH for about $50.

I also flew my family of 4 (1 was infant on lap) DEN-IAH for $70 total. Let that sink in.. $70 for 3 seats on a 2 hour plane ride.

It saved me in a pickle a few times when other flight options were cost prohibitive.

But I haven't been on a spirit plane for almost 10 years.
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62strat
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In reply to bradtheag • 12:24p, 4/20/26
AG
bradtheag said:
Worst 2.5 hours of my life. A 6am spirit flight from Las Vegas to IAH after a 36 hour bachelor trip to Vegas where I slept possibly 2 hours and ingested way too much alcohol

wait.. you're blaming spirit for that?
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Omperlodge
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In reply to Maroon Elephant • 3:00p, 4/20/26
Maroon Elephant said:
We once flew what I would consider one of the most Spirit of Spirit routes that exists: DFW to ATL. It wasn't as bad as everyone says it is. It was much worse. So much worse. The one thing that was really fun, though, was when we hit some nasty turbulence. The loudest, most turnt up flight I've ever been on quickly turned into the quietest flight I've ever been on.

I flew that exact route on Delta for two years, twice a week. There were times that only 4 or 5 of us wouldn't be in the preboard group. Once I was the only one. If I didn't get an exit row, I would complain to the flight attendants that people that preboarded, as in needing extra time, were in the exit row. They would clear the exit row and I would get it all to myself. I wasn't married and didn't have kids yet but I was living dangerously.
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bradtheag
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In reply to 62strat • 8:19p, 4/20/26
AG
62strat said:
bradtheag said:
Worst 2.5 hours of my life. A 6am spirit flight from Las Vegas to IAH after a 36 hour bachelor trip to Vegas where I slept possibly 2 hours and ingested way too much alcohol

wait.. you're blaming spirit for that?


No, it wouldn't have been fun regardless of the carrier, but I can assure you it couldn't have been worse.
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62strat
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In reply to bradtheag • 9:58p, 4/20/26
AG
bradtheag said:
62strat said:
bradtheag said:
Worst 2.5 hours of my life. A 6am spirit flight from Las Vegas to IAH after a 36 hour bachelor trip to Vegas where I slept possibly 2 hours and ingested way too much alcohol

wait.. you're blaming spirit for that?


No, it wouldn't have been fun regardless of the carrier, but I can assure you it couldn't have been worse.

I'd say outside of first class, it couldn't have been any better either.
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Gaeilge
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10:35a, 4/22/26
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YouBet
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11:35a, 4/22/26
AG
Total f'ing idiocy and outright theft of taxpayer dollars.
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