{"id":254602,"date":"2026-05-01T22:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254602\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T22:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:24:19","slug":"i-wish-there-was-a-way-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254602\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I wish there was a way out\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 A possible shutdown<\/a> of Dania Beach-based Spirit Airlines could leave flyers stranded and thousands of workers out of a job.<\/p>\n

Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, the discount carrier is preparing to cease operations after failing to secure agreement from key bondholders and the U.S. government on a proposed bailout plan.<\/p>\n

The airline has its fair share of loyal customers. Local 10 News caught up with Spirit flyers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, one of the airline\u2019s key operating bases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve flown Spirit off-and-on for a long time,\u201d flyer Sarah Burgett said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a problem with Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flyers now say they fear higher fares.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna affect the economy itself and the people too, I don\u2019t really know,\u201d flyer Sunjoha Nyase said. \u201cI wish there was a way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travel editor Peter Greenberg said if Spirit does pull the plug, passengers are protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re holding a Spirit ticket, chances are you paid for it with a credit card, you\u2019re protected under federal credit law so that if Spirit doesn\u2019t deliver the service, you get a refund or a credit on your statement,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cYou\u2019re gonna be forced to pay a much higher fare on a competing carrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Dania Beach headquarters, Spirit employees were hesitant to speak about the looming shutdown.<\/p>\n

A Local 10 News crew saw people walking out Friday with computer monitors and boxes. <\/p>\n

A pilot said he\u2019s not sure what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

Another Spirit employee said a major fear is not knowing whether the airline\u2019s employees will have a job in the coming weekend.<\/p>\n

In a message on social media platform X, Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson, whose union represents Spirit flight attendants, urged President Donald Trump to save the airline.<\/p>\n

She said \u201c(e)veryday Americans will hurt\u201d with $1 billion annually from more expensive fares across the industry stemming from less competition.<\/p>\n

A Business Insider analysis<\/a> found \u201cthat airfares rose an average of about $19, or 14%, across the roughly 90 routes Spirit exited between 2024 and 2025, as consumers faced fewer options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson said nearly 20,000 employees will lose their livelihoods if Trump doesn\u2019t act.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in charge @POTUS<\/a> then make it happen now,” she posted.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 A possible shutdown of Dania Beach-based Spirit Airlines could leave flyers stranded and thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-254602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}