Spirit Airlines lawyer apologizes to Americans ‘priced out’ of air journey

Spirit Airlines’ sudden in a single day collapse has left budget-conscious households stranded simply weeks earlier than the standard launch of the summer time journey season on Memorial Day.

Shortly after Spirit’s operational shutdown, an organization lawyer apologized in chapter court docket to Americans who at the moment are priced out of air journey.

“We apologize most specifically to those Americans who may now be priced entirely out,” Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner mentioned in chapter court docket, The Associated Press and Fortune reported, earlier than he thanked longtime passengers who “could not otherwise have afforded air travel.”

Huebner mentioned earlier this month that the surge in jet gasoline costs left the corporate with “no remaining way out” of chapter and brought about it to stop operations final weekend, whereas it seeks permission to promote property on an ongoing foundation and pay bonuses to remaining workers.

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Spirit Airlines introduced on May 2 that it could stop operations, efficient instantly, after a bailout from President Donald Trump did not materialize. The provider had been searching for a $500 million lifeline from the federal authorities, however the deal couldn’t be finalized in time resulting from monetary problems, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Passengers roll previous the empty Spirit Airlines ticket counter in Terminal E at DFW Airport is empty, May 5, 2026, after the corporate shuttered its operations. (Getty Images)

Though Spirit’s final demise and chapter troubles had been years within the making, the airline confronted further stress from rising jet gasoline costs after battle involving Iran disrupted Middle East oil shipments about 11 weeks in the past. Budget airways are particularly susceptible to rising prices as a result of they can’t simply offset gasoline spikes with premium cabins, company journey packages or loyalty rewards, driving ticket costs additional out of attain for middle-class vacationers.

When the oil market volatility started, the Association of Value Airlines — representing Spirit, Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Frontier Airlines and Sun Country Airlines — reportedly requested the Trump administration for $2.5 billion in momentary support.

The commerce group representing American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines shortly rejected the concept, arguing it could create an unfair benefit.

“Government intervention on behalf of those airlines would punish other airlines that have engaged in self-help in order to deal with increased costs and reward airlines who haven’t made those tough decisions,” Airlines for America wrote in a press launch assertion. “And, in the long-term, sustaining businesses that cannot earn their cost of capital harms competition and consumers by making it more difficult for other airlines to compete.”

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“Not all airlines are struggling equally,” Barron’s affiliate editor Jack Hough mentioned on Barron’s Roundtable final week. “Delta and United are the strongest. They could each generate maybe around $2 billion in free cash this year, but JetBlue and Frontier, they are burning cash right now as they have for years. And of course, Spirit Airlines has folded, so it takes away a lot of the price competition for major carriers.”

“I think it suggests that cheap flights are going to be harder to come by for a while,” Hough warned.

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FOX Business’ Matthew Kazin, Eric Revell and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.