Spirit A 319 at Fort Lauderdale By JTOcchialini – N503NK Yellow Bird FLL JTPI 4×6 3790 @ 1/60th, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41398278

Spirit Airlines, one of the largest local private-sector employers and the dominant airline at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International has shut down.

The short-term reality for South Florida could be one of stranded passengers and skyrocketing prices. In the long term, other carriers will eventually absorb the gate space, but the era of the $99 round-trip to New York or Bogota from FLL is over.

For the thousands of South Floridians who wear the “Spirit yellow” taxi-looking uniform, the next few days be about the survival of their livelihoods in a region where the cost of living continues to climb and jobs are becoming scarcer.

What Happens Next

JetBlue’s Immediate Offensive

JetBlue is wasting no time solidifying its position as the largest carrier at FLL. An internal memo at the airline that a source shared with me indicates the airline sees the void in Fort Lauderdale as a “once in a generation” opportunity. JetBlue is probably the only carrier that can backfill the international holes left by Spirit’s fall.

JetBlue has signaled it will open interview opportunities for former Spirit pilots and flight attendants, potentially absorbing a portion of the local workforce that has lost their jobs.

This all having been stated, the reality is JetBlue is not a healthy airline and carries a huge debt burden which is likely to land them in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy if oil prices continue to be this high.

The ULCC Scramble (Frontier & Allegiant)

With the “Spirit Effect” gone, Frontier is the primary beneficiary for the budget-conscious:

Gate Wars: Frontier has already been ramping up its FLL presence over the last six months. Expect them to lobby the Broward County Aviation Department (BCAD) heavily this week for Spirit’s vacated gates in Terminal 4.

Pricing Shifts: Without Spirit to keep them honest, Frontier and Allegiant are likely to become the new price-setters for “no-frills” travel out of FLL, though analysts expect average fares to rise by 15-20% across the board without Spirit’s volume. It’s also possible Frontier connects some of the tier 2 cities Spirit served from FLL, but for now their network only consists of major cities that Spirit served and was also served by legacy carriers.

Avelo and Breeze are likely to expand service to smaller regional airports along the East Coast that might otherwise lose South Florida connectivity. Breeze has recently embarked on an expansion at FLL but they are an airline suited to flying sub-daily flights to smaller destinations. So they might not be particularly interested in replacing Spirit in many areas. Spirit had a much more diverse route structure than either Breeze or Avelo.

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