Foundation and early years The company started as Clippert Trucking Company in 1964. In 1974, the company changed its name to Ground Air Transfer, Inc. In 1983, the airline service was founded in
Macomb County, Michigan, by Ned Homfeld as
Charter One Airlines, a
Detroit-based charter tour operator providing travel packages to entertainment destinations such as
Atlantic City,
Las Vegas, and
the Bahamas.
1990s in 1998, painted in Spirit's first livery used from 1992 until 2002 In May 1992, Charter One brought
jet aircraft into the fleet and changed its name to Spirit Airlines. Scheduled flights between Detroit and Atlantic City began on June 1, 1992. and
Philadelphia. An overbooking incident occurred in the summer of 1994, and 1,400 customers' tickets were canceled. The overbooking occurred because Spirit Airlines had given incorrect instructions to
travel agents, causing those tickets not to be valid, even though the customers had paid for the flights. In 1998, she became the first female captain. It relocated its headquarters in December 1999, moving to
Miramar, Florida, in the
Miami metropolitan area. Prior to the decision to relocate the headquarters to Miramar, Spirit considered
Atlantic City, New Jersey, and
Detroit, Michigan.
2000s in the grayscale livery used from 2002 until 2007 In 2000, the US
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fined Spirit Airlines $67,000 for violating federal regulations on cabin and seat markings and placards. Discrepancies were found in the marking and placarding of emergency equipment, passenger seats, storage areas and doors on eight of Spirit's
DC-9 and
MD-80 aircraft. Spirit inaugurated service to
San Juan, Puerto Rico in November 2001. A fully integrated Spanish-language customer service plan was implemented, including a website and dedicated reservation line. Spirit resumed flights to Washington, D.C.'s
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which were suspended for two years after the
September 11 attacks. Spirit began service to
Grand Cayman, San Francisco, and Boston in 2006. In 2007, Spirit filed
DOT applications to offer service to Costa Rica, Haiti, the
Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela. In June 2008, Spirit Airlines made a
WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice Act) application to potentially relocate or lay off hundreds of pilots and flight attendants and close its San Juan and LaGuardia crew bases. In September 2008, Spirit began placing advertisements on the side of aircraft, overhead bins, tray tables, seatback inserts and bulkheads. In May 2009, after more than four years of inconclusive negotiations between the airline and the
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Spirit pilots overwhelmingly (98% of votes) voted in favor of
strike action over compensation, work rules, and benefits. At that time, Spirit pilots were among the lowest-paid
Airbus pilots in the United States. On June 12, 2010, Spirit grounded its flights when its unionized pilots walked out on strike, stranding thousands of passengers; it was the first passenger airline strike by American ALPA-represented pilots since
Comair in 2001. On June 15, negotiations between the airline and ALPA resumed. A tentative agreement was reached late in the evening on June 16, which Spirit pilots later ratified with 74% approval, brought Spirit pilots' compensation and benefits in line with comparable Airbus operators in the US. Flights resumed on June 18. Spirit Plus was rebranded as "Big Front Seat" and business class service was discontinued in 2007. For an additional fee, a person could choose "Big Front Seat", or upgrade at the airport. In December 2010, Spirit Airlines introduced the Free Spirit World
MasterCard.
2010s in the blue livery used from 2007 until 2014 Spirit Airlines became the first U.S. airline to charge passengers for carry-on bags in 2010. They were later followed by
Allegiant Air and
Frontier Airlines. A scandal arose in April 2012 when Spirit refused to refund a terminally ill American military veteran, who had purchased a nonrefundable ticket between Florida and
Atlantic City before receiving orders from his doctor not to fly. The decision caused outrage among veterans' groups and the general public, some of whom threatened to boycott Spirit unless both a refund and apology were issued. In May, Spirit CEO
Ben Baldanza apologized for how the situation was handled and personally refunded the man's ticket. The airline made a $5,000 donation to the
Wounded Warrior Project in his name. In August 2013, Spirit reached an agreement on a new five-year deal with the
Transport Workers Union of America, who represent the airline's flight dispatchers. Former
AirTran CEO
Robert L. Fornaro replaced Baldanza as CEO in 2016 . This prompted rumors of a merger with
Frontier Airlines, which would have created the largest ultra low-cost carrier in the Americas. Fornaro announced the airline would be teaming up with the
Disney Institute to "create a common purpose and a fresh set of service standards", and changing policies internally to create a more welcoming environment. By 2017, Spirit's on-time performance was second in the country, behind only
Delta Air Lines, a significant improvement from December 2015, when it ranked last among thirteen airlines with 68.7% of flights arriving on time. In February 2018, Spirit was the only airline in North America to make the list of the top 10 safest in the world. Spirit announced in 2018 that it would be the first ultra-low-cost carrier to fit its aircraft with high-speed WiFi access, which started that fall. All of their aircraft were expected to be equipped with WiFi by summer 2019. In October 2019, Spirit Airlines announced plans to move its headquarters to
Dania Beach, Florida. The new complex was planned to be around square feet and had plans to be equipped with flight simulators. The plans were changed in 2021 for the six-story headquarters to be , the training facility to be around , and the parking garage to have 998 spaces. Later that year, Spirit Airlines announced plans to purchase 100 new
Airbus A320neo family aircraft. A February 2020 fleet plan outlined 293 aircraft planned by 2027.
2020–2026 in the yellow livery used from 2014 until bankruptcy During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Spirit Airlines received $334 million in aid in the form of grants and loans via the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES). The money was used to fund employees until September 30. In July 2020, the company announced that it would put 20–30% of its employees on leave of absence in October. In August, some pilots and flight attendants agreed to take a voluntary leave of absence or have their work schedule temporarily reduced to avoid layoffs. In July 2020, a passenger died of COVID-19 on a Spirit Airlines flight. Spirit's inflight Internet service, provided by
Thales' FlytLIVE, transitioned to a new satellite in the summer of 2022 to provide "the fastest Wi-Fi service of any US-based airline". The
SES-17 high-throughput satellite from operator
SES provided A320 and A321 passengers across all Spirit routes with connection speeds of up to 400 Mbit/s throughout their flight. In August 2023, the airline converted an order for 31
Airbus A319neo into the larger A321neo. Spirit's order had made up a third of all A319neo orders, putting the type's future in question. By this time, Spirit's early financial troubles were beginning to ease. On January 16, 2025, Spirit Airlines laid off 200 employees to reduce costs. On January 24, Spirit Airlines updated its dress code to deny boarding to passengers wearing inappropriate clothing or displaying offensive tattoos. In April 2025 Spirit emerged from bankruptcy under new CEO Dave Davis.
Attempted mergers and bankruptcy Since 2022, various competing low-cost airlines announced plans to acquire Spirit. In February 2022,
Frontier Airlines announced its intention to acquire Spirit, pending regulatory approval, with Frontier Airlines stock as the surviving entity. The deal would have made the combined airline the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. In July 2022, Spirit's shareholders rejected Frontier's offer. In April 2022,
JetBlue proposed to acquire Spirit for $33 per share in cash, equivalent to $3.6billion. In May, Spirit said its board of directors had decided not to consider JetBlue's proposal. According to Spirit Airlines, JetBlue's proposed acquisition would be unlikely to be approved by the
U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, because it would likely believe that an ultra-low-cost carrier being purchased by a higher-fare airline would increase fares for consumers. Spirit noted that the Antitrust Division was looking into JetBlue's strategic partnership with
American Airlines for the same reason. That July, JetBlue reached an agreement to purchase Spirit for $33.50 per share, with additional inducements for Spirit shareholders. The deal would have made the unified company the fifth-largest airline based in the United States. but the Department of Justice sued to block it, alleging that the merger would result in "higher fares, fewer seats, and harm millions of consumers". The trial began in October 2023, and at its conclusion, a federal judge blocked JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit Airlines on January 16, 2024, stating that the deal was anticompetitive towards other airline corporations and would harm consumers. As a result, Spirit Airlines' stock fell by approximately 47% and the airline expressed concern over its future. Speculators predicted that Spirit may have to file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, followed by a
liquidation process, if the airline could not come up with a growth plan. However, on January 18, Spirit denied these speculations, saying that the company has no plans to file for bankruptcy and was looking for new plans to maintain its future. JetBlue ended its takeover attempt on March 4, 2024, after federal judge
William G. Young ruled the move would reduce competition. In November 2024, Spirit announced that it was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company's stock dropped over 50%, and quarterly results were not to be revealed due to the announcement. On November 18, it filed for Chapter 11, listing assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. The company blamed mounting losses, failed merger agreements, increasing debt, and high competition. The company was to continue operating through the bankruptcy, from which it expected to emerge by the beginning of 2025. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, Spirit Airlines was delisted from the
NYSE. Frontier Airlines again offered to purchase the airline in January. Spirit rejected the offer of $2.1billion in stock and cash, which would have also required Spirit's creditors to invest $350million. The offer was significantly lower than the $2.9billion merger deal the airlines had announced in early 2022. Despite rejecting the initial offer, Spirit said it would welcome further negotiations with Frontier. By the spring of 2025, Spirit had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after finalizing its debt and having its take-private bankruptcy plan approved in February. However, in August, Spirit announced that it was running short of cash and may not be able to stay in business for another year. On August 29, 2025, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year, as part of a plan to reduce its fleet and stabilize its position. To combat the airline's financial issues, Spirit began a series of layoffs. In September, Spirit announced it was planning to furlough one-third of its flight attendants—affecting around 1,800 people. The announcement came a week after the company said it planned to reduce flying capacity by 25% in its November schedule. In October, Spirit Airlines revealed further details of its "shrink-to-shine" restructuring plan, including a plan to furlough 365 pilots and downgrade up to 170 additional pilots in the first quarter of 2026 as part of broader efforts to restore profitability, including a projected net profit of $219 million in 2027. On April 15, 2026, reports indicated that Spirit Airlines was at risk of imminent liquidation as surging jet fuel prices—driven sharply higher by the 2026 Iran war—deepened the carrier’s already severe financial distress. The conflict‑related spike in global oil markets pushed fuel costs to levels that Spirit’s ultra‑low‑cost model could not absorb, compounding the airline’s ongoing losses from high debt, labor expenses, and intense fare competition. By April 18, the airline was actively seeking a federal bailout in an effort to avoid liquidation, and later that month the
Trump administration said it was considering acquiring a controlling stake in the company.
End of operations The airline ceased operations on May 2, 2026, at 3:00a.m.
EDT after bailout negotiations between its creditors and the Trump administration collapsed. The airline blamed sharply rising fuel costs associated with the 2026 Iran war for the shutdown decision, though the carrier was already in a weakened financial position following years of losses, failed merger attempts, and two Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. The final Spirit Airlines flight landed in
Dallas–Fort Worth shortly after midnight on May 2, 2026 after its trip from
Detroit. The company said that it would automatically issue refunds for tickets purchased directly from the airline, but that tickets purchased through third-party booking platforms were subject to separate refund processes. Following the shutdown, several airlines introduced discounted "rescue fares" for affected passengers, and U.S. carriers extended travel accommodations to Spirit employees seeking to return home and, in some cases, offered or pledged to offer expedited or priority consideration in hiring. == Corporate affairs ==