Parking was a breeze, the hot coffee arrived within moments and the TSA lines at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s Terminal 4 last week seemed to be among the shortest in months.
But for visitors who thought it was all a sign of airport efficiency, the appearances were deceiving. Bankrupt Spirit Airlines, the pioneering “hometown” discount carrier for Greater Fort Lauderdale and main occupant of Terminal 4, was long gone, shut down the previous weekend amid a cash shortage and a lack of political and lender appetites for a U.S. government bailout.
“I can’t believe they shut Spirit Airlines,” said an airport worker who videoed the vacated terminal.
Outside, five of Spirit’s signature yellow Airbus jetliners awaited possible trips to storage. Three others sat along the airport’s northern perimeter. Midweek, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge allowed Spirit to sell its remaining planes, engines and equipment.
Aside from 17,000 jobs lost systemwide, including more than 4,800 in South and Central Florida, the economic wreckage has yet to be calculated. But any observer could see that airport concessions that thrived while Spirit was alive are suffering after its demise.
Across from the TSA checkpoint, a coffee shop and a cafe with a bar had two customers each at a time when they were usually crowded. A currency exchange kiosk downstairs was closed after modifying its hours. A ride-share operation had been moved to another area of the airport, and a nearby parking garage offered generous numbers of available spaces.
Local elected officials and economic development specialists seemed confident that Spirit competitors including Frontier, Allegiant and JetBlue, among others, quickly will fill the void.
A lineup of Spirit Airlines planes are shown grounded at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after the carrier shut down May 2. Any planes that bankrupt Spirit owns will now be sold. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“Everything I’m hearing is that the [airport] gates are desired and that these airlines want to increase service,” Broward Mayor Mark Bogen told the Sun Sentinel.
“We are working right now to fill the void,” he said. “l believe that in a couple of months our data will show that vacuum will be filled.”
The airport, he said, has heard from discounters Allegiant, Breeze, Frontier and JetBlue, the latter of which sought to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion, only to have a judge block the bid on antitrust grounds in 2024.
The timetable for any snapback, though, might take more than a couple months, said Bijan Vasigh, professor of transportation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
“The recovery would take time,” he said. “That could be a year or so, or maybe less. Frontier may fill up the void, and JetBlue is growing that market. The contraction would not be permanent.”
Leader of the pack
Even during the throes of its decline, Spirit served a quarter of the passengers using Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International. The airport not only lost its top airline in passengers carried, but more than 2,900 Spirit employees who worked there.
Through the end of the first quarter ended March 31, Spirit led more than 20 other airlines using the airport in passengers served.
Spirit’s first quarter year-to-date passenger count at the airport: More than 2.3 million. JetBlue was second at just more than 2 million.
Replacement search
There is ample precedent for assets of failed airlines to be picked up by rivals. In 1989, American Airlines purchased Latin American, Caribbean and trans-Atlantic routes belonging to a then-ailing Miami-based Eastern Airlines. The latter carrier, which was the region’s largest private employer with 15,000 people, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a massive strike. It stopped flying in 1991.
American is now the predominant carrier at Miami International Airport. It also maintains a smaller presence at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Palm Beach International airports.
Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, said the economic development agency has not conducted an economic impact assessment of Spirit’s failure. But the agency has been “doing our own outreach to companies we think would be a good fit for the space.”
“It has been reported there are about 3,200 direct Spirit Broward employees,” he said in an emailed statement. “That number represents about .03% of our total Broward workforce of a million people. That said, it’s a significant loss for our community and for the people impacted.”
Spirit Airlines’ headquarters is shown in Dania Beach on May 1 , the day before 551 employees lost their jobs when the airline shut down. The campus is now viewed as a potential hot property for companies with relocation ambitions. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)
When Spirit ceased operations in the early morning hours of May 2, several airlines quickly announced their intentions to add flights at the airport and even hire some of its unemployed workers.
Here is a preliminary look at airlines likely to add flights to replace Spirit:
JetBlue Airways: The New York-based carrier, which operates mainly out of Terminal 3, said it has added 11 destinations and “increased frequencies on existing JetBlue routes.”
It said it intends to launch new nonstop service to “destinations across the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.”
“We’re stepping up for Fort Lauderdale to ensure the availability of air service in this market,” said Marty St. George, the airline’s president, in a statement.
JetBlue expects to operate nearly 130 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale this summer, “marking the largest operation in the airline’s history from the airport and more than 75% more daily flights than in 2025.”
Frontier Airlines: The Denver-based discount carrier, which had made several unsuccessful bids to acquire Spirit, was quick to announce its ambitions.
“Having a robust Frontier presence at FLL is extremely important to ensure South Florida continues to have access to low fares,” a spokesperson said by email. “The presence of low-fare carriers in a market forces competition among airlines and reduces the cost of flying for consumers overall. Fort Lauderdale is strongly on our radar.”
The airline now operates 15 nonstop routes from the airport and by July will have 16 average daily departures.
“Over the past few months, we have been adding routes from FLL with the intent of already being in position as a low-cost alternative in the event Spirit folded,” the spokesperson said. “That effort was time well spent and consumers are already benefitting from it. We are continuing to identify routes that we believe lack sufficient low-cost service and anticipate adding more destinations from FLL as the year progresses, along with significant growth in frequency by this winter.”
Through March 31 of this year, the airline ranked ninth in passengers served with a 3.9% market share.
Breeze: The discounter announced Sunday and Thursday nonstop flights to Pensacola and to Savannah, Ga.
Avelo: The Salt Lake City-based carrier, which launched in 2021 with a network of secondary regional airports, has a thin presence at the airport but publicized a list of 29 routes that parallel Spirit’s old system.
Allegiant: The Las Vegas-based airline added several flights in February. It has expressed interest in expanding at the Fort Lauderdale airport, but details are unknown.
American Airlines: The carrier said it serves 70 of the 72 airports that Spirit served, and 67 of the routes Spirit operated. After the shutdown, American said it added capacity to help Spirit’s stranded passengers but did not speak of longer term plans at the airport.
Delta Air Lines: From Terminal 2, the Atlanta-based airline is adding flights in leisure-focused markets as part of its “normal network planning process, including growth in South Florida.” Once the Fort Lauderdale airport’s busiest and ranked No. 3 with a 12% market share in the first quarter, Delta is adding daily flights to Detroit in November and December, and to Boston in the second half of December.
Southwest Airlines: After strategically shifting many flights out of Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, the airline last week announced renewed commitments to Orlando International Airport and to Las Vegas. The airline, still the predominant carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood’s Terminal 1, says there are no plans to grow there.
Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International’s Terminal 1, is more interested in growth at Orlando International Airport after moving a number of flights there last year. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Local ripple effects
An area outside the airport impacted the most appears to be Dania Beach, home to Spirit’s 11-acre headquarters campus, complete with a flight simulator. When Spirit stopped flying, it laid off 551 people who worked there.
But people in the real estate and development communities see the vacancy as more of a long-term opportunity than a loss.
John Boyd, founder of the Boca Raton-based relocation consultancy The Boyd Company Inc., said the campus would be a draw for many companies from around the globe looking for a headquarters location.
“What an attractive office complex to market as a potential corporate headquarters that would employ thousands and contribute in ways that Fortune 500 companies do,” he said. “That’s the type of building that would be a great addition to the office inventory to be promoted globally to a site-seeking company.”
Dania Beach Commissioner A.J. Bryan said he welcomed an exploratory initiative by County Commissioner Michael Udine to assess the feasibility of the county moving its government center to the Spirit site.
“I do appreciate the county putting it forward as an item, and we would love the county government center in Dania Beach,” he said
“From a local standpoint we’ve gone through big economic growth and Spirit Airlines was also riding that as well,” Bryan said. “They built that $250 million campus and $60 million flight simulator. They can’t pick that building up and take it anywhere. The taxes on that building still need to be paid.”
Developer Daniel Kodsi, CEO of Miami-based Royal Palm Companies, said he doubted the airline’s failure would lead to any severe real estate market disruption, though his firm’s Elevated Apartments building in Dania Beach houses former Spirit Airlines workers. The building is 90% occupied.
“That void is going to be filled,” he said of Spirit’s absence. “From a housing standpoint we believe the employment is heading up regardless of Spirit.”
But tourism, a linchpin industry for Greater Fort Lauderdale, likely will get more expensive for leisure travelers who relied on the budget airline as their prime airline choice.
“The reduction of lower-priced fares will definitely take its toll in some heavy leisure markets,” said Peter Ricci, director of the hospitality and tourism management program at Florida Atlantic University.
“We are lucky to have mega events coming to South Florida from northern Palm Beach County through the northern edge of Keys,” he said. “This high demand will come to an end at some point. [Hotel] properties will rely upon those on lower budgets to fill in the off-season. The future can be scary ahead if we think too short-term in our air travel coverage. There should be something for everyone. Spirit is a loss to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, plain and simple.”