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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) \u2014 No airport is more important to Spirit Airlines than Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. But flip the question, and the airline is even more important to other airports.<\/p>\n
Spirit, which the Wall Street Journal reported Friday evening<\/a> could be in its final hours, scheduled more departing seats from Fort Lauderdale \u2014 5,724,902 \u2014 for the past 12 months (May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026) than from any other airport, according to a Nexstar analysis of Cirium\/Diio Mi airline schedule data. (The top 15 airports are listed below.)<\/p>\n And to be sure, the impact at Fort Lauderdale on air service alone \u2014 never mind the broader economic impact in a region where the airline\u2019s new headquarters building abuts the airport \u2014 would be big.<\/p>\n But in terms of the percentage of seats at an airport scheduled by Spirit as opposed to other airlines, Fort Lauderdale \u2014 where Spirit has accounted for 28% of all scheduled seats during the past year, according to the analysis \u2014 isn\u2019t the airport where Spirit\u2019s demise would hurt most.<\/p>\n That airport would be small Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania \u2014 about an hour\u2019s drive east of Pittsburgh (Spirit has long marketed Latrobe as an alternative to Pittsburgh International) \u2014 where fully 100% of the 87,296 seats scheduled during the past year have been on Spirit\u2019s yellow and black planes.<\/p>\n At Atlantic City, New Jersey (where, as at nearly all its airports, Spirit has already shrunk its footprint as it took airplanes out of service to try to stay aloft), the figure is 94%, according to the analysis. The top 15 list by that metric is also below.<\/p>\n Historically, when an airline stops flying \u2014 and by most measures, no U.S. airline as large as Spirit has stopped flying since Eastern did so in 1991 \u2014 other airlines eventually \u201cbackfill,\u201d in airline parlance, much of what was lost. That\u2019s especially true at airports like New York LaGuardia and Chicago O\u2019Hare, where gates and the \u201cslots\u201d required to operate most flights are precious.<\/p>\n But in terms of which airports would lose the most total service in the short term, Spirit\u2019s top 15 airports by departing seats scheduled from May 2025 through April 2026 are: Fort Lauderdale (5,724,902), Orlando (3,797,099), Las Vegas (2,203,018), Detroit (2,109,577), Newark (1,742,651), Houston Intercontinental (1,486,386), Atlanta (1,399,919), Dallas-Fort Worth (1,217,968), Chicago O\u2019Hare (1,185,141), New York-LaGuardia (1,149,627), Los Angeles LAX (1,025,825), Baltimore-Washington (880,562), Miami (832,794), New Orleans (802,469) and Tampa (729,729).<\/p>\n In percentage terms \u2014 the percentage of all seats at an airport (also for May 2025 through April 2026) scheduled by Spirit as opposed to other airlines, the top 15 most impacted airports are: Latrobe 100%, Atlantic City 94%, Fort Lauderdale 28%, Myrtle Beach 23%, Tegucigalpa (Honduras) 20%, San Pedro Sula (Honduras) 17%, St. Thomas 15%, St. Croix 13%, Orlando 11%, Detroit 10%, New Orleans 10%, Armenia (Colombia) 9%, San Juan (Puerto Rico) 8%, Pensacola (Florida) 8% and Las Vegas 7%.<\/p>\n Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV devices<\/a>, and newer Samsung Smart TVs.<\/a><\/p>\n Note the abundance of Caribbean and Central American destinations. Spirit\u2019s business model has long included transporting price-sensitive visiting friends and relatives (or \u201cVFR\u201d traffic, in airline parlance) to see each other \u2014 and budget-conscious leisure travelers to popular destinations.<\/p>\n President Trump had raised the possibility of a $550 million government bailout for Spirit. But a broad coalition of analytical and political voices, including Republicans who often align with Trump on other issues, warned against the idea<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n