Embattled Spirit Airlines, which is preparing to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings this summer, has taken to Interstate 95 to help defend its self-proclaimed turf as South Florida’s “TRUE Hometown Airline.”

The longtime budget carrier is relying on a traditional medium to deliver the message: billboards located at three I-95 exits — Sunrise and Davie boulevards in Fort Lauderdale and Stirling Road south of the airport.

The company said it wants to highlight itself as a decades-long corporate citizen in South Florida after a “New York-based competitor” recently made “noise in the market.”

And whom might that be?

Try JetBlue Airways, which once sought to acquire Spirit for $3.8 billion. But the proposed deal was scotched by a Boston federal judge who blocked the bid on antitrust grounds.

Spirit has twice filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and expects to emerge from its most recent case as a smaller, still independent carrier this summer, management has said in court filings.

In mid-March, Spirit said it intends to focus on Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Detroit and the Greater New York area after drastically downsizing its fleet and shrinking its route network to a group of destinations that it hopes will generate a profitable operation.

“As Fort Lauderdale’s true hometown airline, FLL remains a top focus in our network strategy as we continue to deliver an unmatched value to South Florida travelers,” Rana Ghosh, senior vice president and chief commercial officer at Spirit, said in a statement. “Spirit is deeply rooted in the South Florida community and plays a pivotal role in driving low fares and competition in Fort Lauderdale.”

The airline said it is offering 60 nonstop destinations from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport this spring, “more than any other carrier and 25+ more than its New York-based competitor.”

Growing piece of the action

But JetBlue, which has been consistently ranked as No. 2 behind Spirit in market share at the Fort Lauderdale airport, has been steadily closing the gap. Spirit’s top-ranked share is now at 24.9%, with JetBlue at 21.3%, according to year-to-date figures for February compiled by the Broward County Aviation Department. In better days, Spirit’s share once exceeded 30%.

Just last week, JetBlue announced another round of additional flights to nine U.S. and Caribbean locations, and tacked on Cleveland as a new destination from the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Over the years, JetBlue has also staked a claim to Fort Lauderdale as an integral part of its history. The discount carrier operated its first flight out of New York’s JFK International Airport to the local airport in February 2000. Since then, it has called Fort Lauderdale one of its several “focus cities.”

JetBlue did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment about Spirit’s hometown airline campaign, which also appears on Instagram.

Spirit in its Monday statement said it serves “the entire South Florida community,” with nonstop service from Miami International Airport to 11 destinations and from Palm Beach International Airport to two destinations as of this spring.

In addition, Spirit said, it is the only airline to offer nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to Belize City, Belize; Armenia, Barranquilla, and Cali, Colombia; Lima, Peru; San Antonio and San Salvador, El Salvador; St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Virgin Islands and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

“The majority of Spirit’s workforce is based in South Florida,” the airline noted. It launched service at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 1993.

In 2024, Spirit opened an expansive headquarters campus in Dania Beach after spending years in a corporate office park in Miramar.

But will the “hometown” billboard campaign resonate with the public?

Possibly, said one Broward County public relations executive.

“That’s the one message they want people to remember and there is still a place for billboards in the media landscape,” said Todd Templin, partner and executive vice president of BoardroomPR in Plantation. The PR firm does not represent Spirit. “They are well-positioned and they’re in high-trafficked areas.”

“Time will tell if the public buys into it,” he added. “They’ve got to try something. It’s their second bankruptcy and you don’t want to be in the news for that too often.”