In 2014, then-Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza told the NPR podcast Planet Money: “We’re Dollar General. And we like being Dollar General because we save people lots of money.”
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For people traveling to and from Florida, Spirit was not only an affordable choice for flying; it increased competition among carriers, helping keep other airline ticket prices in check.
That’s why the company’s shutdown is troubling. It signals another blow to consumers. The cost of everything else has gone up: gas, housing, groceries. Spirit was notoriously known for no-frills flying, and it was ranked the least popular airline among travelers in 2014, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s travel report. But it served a purpose.
In 2024, Spirit controlled 31% of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, flying 11 million passengers through its South Florida hub, WLRN reported.
But now those gates are empty.
As WLRN reported, the shutdown has led to the loss of over 2,500 jobs at Fort Lauderdale Airport, 180 jobs at Miami International Airport and another 550 jobs at Spirit’s Dania Beach headquarters. (The South Florida Sun Sentinel says approximately 1,600 Orlando-based jobs are also gone.)
That’s a devastating blow for those employees, and travelers will probably feel it too in their pockets.
Even before Spirit went under, whenever the airline exited a route, average fares jumped 23%, or roughly $60, for a round-trip flight, according to a CBS News analysis of data from aviation analytics company Cirium. That’s close to $250 more for a family of four.
“Fares will go up. There is no way around it,” Courtney Miller, founder of aviation-data provider Visual Approach Analytics, told The Wall Street Journal.
In 2024, the federal courts recognized this. The “Spirit-effect” became a key argument in the federal government’s antitrust lawsuit to block Jet Blue’s acquisition of Spirit in 2024. A judge agreed and blocked the merger.
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“The elimination of Spirit would harm cost-conscious travelers who rely on Spirit’s low fares,” U.S. District Judge William Young, of the District of Massachusetts, wrote in his decision.
The outcome the court tried to avoid happened anyway when Spirit collapsed two years later. Yet, the U.S. Department of Justice’s argument in that case is still valid: competition helps consumers and the loss of budget airlines hurts them.
Florida’s economy depends on tourism and hospitality. When airfare becomes expensive, the Sunshine State becomes less accessible — not just for those vacationing here but for local families who rely on affordable flights.
For millions who flew Spirit, the cheaper fares made the difference between taking a family vacation or staying home. A single mother told the Wall Street Journal, “We fly Spirit because we’re broke.”
The choice to fly Spirit for some wasn’t a choice at all, but more of a commentary on the uncomfortable truth about the economy. Often mocked for its bare-bones service, Spirit was an ultra low-cost carrier that charged for everything, from carry-on luggage to in-flight snacks.
But for an airline everyone loved to complain about, it provided something valuable — the ability to catch a flight without breaking the bank. Its collapse leaves South Florida with fewer jobs, fewer airline options and, possibly, higher fares
This Miami Herald editorial has been adapted by the Orlando Sentinel. The Sentinel sometimes reprints editorials that agree with our own positions. Send letters to [email protected].
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