On May 2, 2026, Spirit Airlines ceased all operations permanently. The commercial airline, centered around providing affordable travel, was founded by Ned Homfeld in 1980 before it ultimately shut down, filing for bankruptcy.
Spirit Airlines had been in business for 46 years, providing customers with value flights. Sophomore Meg Hanson, who has several older siblings who currently attend college out of state, says that traveling with affordable airlines, like Spirit, is the easiest way to reach them.
“The hardest part of living far from my siblings is feeling disconnected,” Hanson said. “The loss of an affordable airline will make air travel less accessible to me and likely reduce the amount of time I get to see the older members of my family in person.”
At the time of the shutdown, Spirit Airlines immediately canceled all flights and travelers were left stranded, forced to find another way to reach their destinations. Savannah Lawrence, sophomore Lucia Pizarro’s aunt, was in Costa Rica preparing to leave for her Spirit Airlines flight back to the United States, when she received a message that her flight was cancelled.
“I immediately began searching with my partner to find flights in a similar price range to the
flights I’d booked before through Spirit,” Lawrence said. “I luckily found one through JetBlue that was about $30 cheaper, but departed two days later on May 5th.”
The shutdown left many people scrambling as they struggled to find a way home. Those affected explain how communication was very limited while the shutdown was going on.
“I learned of the news through the booking site where I got my flights and from news articles online that I searched afterwards for more information,” Lawrence said. “I actually never received an email from Spirit directly about the cancellations or next steps forward.”
Many customers were only given partial refunds, like Lawrence, who was only refunded $190 after she spent $260. Hanson believes that Spirit Airlines’ affordable pricing gave students more opportunities to travel.
“Cheaper airline travel is more accessible to students because most teens and young adults either don’t have jobs or don’t have money saved up,” Hanson said. “It gives those people more chances to travel by plane and gain a broader view of the world.”
Spirit Airlines closure has brought hardship and consequences for many people. Lawrence says that the hardest part of navigating the cancellations was the loss of several work days.
“I was stressed most of the day, traveling eight hours to and from Manuel Antonio, [Costa Rica], trying to reason with my supervisor without much luck,” Lawrence said. “Spirit Airlines’ ceasing operations sparked difficult conversations at work, especially with my supervisor, that caused a lot of emotional distress for me.”
