Spirit Airlines has grounded its fleet of bright yellow airplanes, announcing Saturday that it is ending operations “effective immediately” after failing to get a financial bailout from the Trump administration.
Financial turmoil worsened by soaring jet fuel prices doomed the budget airline, leaving thousands of customers scrambling for flights on other airlines.
“To our guests: all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available,” officials said in a statement shared online.
The company added customers can expect refunds for their cancelled flights, but there would be no assistance in booking travel on other airlines.
“We are proud of the impact of our ultra low-cost-model for the last 33 years and had hoped to serve our guest for many more years to come,” it concluded.
Spirit Airlines flights are shown as canceled on a board after the company announced it was shutting down at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 2, 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
On its website, Spirit Airlines recommended that their customers “should not go to the airport” unless they have already made new travel plans. Other companies, such as American Airlines, began offering “rescue fares” on select routes for Spirit customers whose travel plans were disrupted by the companies sudden closure.
The airline had asked for financial assistance from the federal government before shutting down. President Trump on Friday told reporters that the government may buy a stake in the company, but “only if it’s a good deal.”
“If we can help them, we will,” Trump said. “But we have to come first.”
Trump did not immediately comment on the company’s closure Saturday.
The low-cost carrier, which has struggled to remain profitable since the emergence of COVID-19, once operated hundreds of flights a day and employed some 17,000 people. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of pandemic.
The same year, the airline attempted to sell itself to JetBlue Airways, but a federal judge blocked the $3.8 billion merger, concluding it would reduce competition among airlines and harm customers.
Spirit again filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2025, and any hope for rebound was dashed by the Iran War, which has pushed up the costs of oil and jet fuel prices, forcing the airline to turn to the Trump administration for assistance. But after months of negotiations, it failed to reach a deal on an 11th-hour bailout package, with a key group of creditors balking at the proposal.
The Spirit Airlines ticket counter at Detroit Metro Airport is closed down after the airline shutdown overnight on May 2, 2026 in Romulus, Michigan. (Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
“For more than 30 years, Spirit Airlines has played a pioneering role in making travel more accessible and bringing people together while driving affordability across the industry,” Dave Davis, Spirit’s president and CEO said in a statement.
“The sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the Company,” he continued. “Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure. This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.”
Spirit is the first major U.S. airline in 25 years to go out of business due to financial problems.
With News Wire Service