No more Spirit at CLT airport, as low-cost carrier prepares to shut down
Spirit Airlines is apparently departing Charlotte Douglas International Airport for good.
The Florida-based low-budget is ending operations after failing to secure a $500 million bailout from the Trump administration and lack of support from bondholders to stay in business, according to multiple media reports Friday.
The airline is struggling with high fuel prices, which worsened after the U.S.-Iran war. With no government bailout, Spirit is planning to sell off its planes and shut down, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, several months after an existing bankruptcy.
Spirit Airlines at Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Spirit has a small footprint at Charlotte Douglas, along with other airlines such as Delta, Frontier, JetBlue and Southwest. Spirit makes up about 2% of flights at the airport.
But losing Spirit means there’s one fewer option for low-cost flights from Charlotte’s airport, where customers often gripe about cost of flights.
American Airlines accounts for about 90% of services at CLT. The airport is the second-largest hub for the Fort Worth, Texas-based company.
Spirit landed in Charlotte in 2019, with routes to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida; Newark, New Jersey; and Baltimore/Washington. At the time, the airline’s vice president of network planning indicated Spirit would continue to expand in the state: “We’re very bullish on North Carolina,” The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
The airline was founded in 1964 as Clippert Trucking Company, a Michigan corporation. It began charter air operations in 1990 and adopted the name Spirit Airlines Inc. in 1992.
