Spirit Airlines is deepening its financial crisis, announcing that it will cut service to 11 cities across the United States, including San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, Portland, Salt Lake City, Boise, Albuquerque, Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Columbia, South Carolina. A planned launch to Macon, Georgia, was also canceled. These cuts come as the airline enters its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in less than a year, underscoring the severity of its troubles. By shedding unprofitable routes and focusing operations on core markets such as Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Detroit, Spirit hopes to stabilize its shrinking network and slow its mounting losses.
The airline’s struggles are rooted in a mix of structural weaknesses and unfortunate circumstances. Spirit has been weighed down by high operating costs, weak demand for leisure travel, and a business model that no longer seems to deliver the margins it once did. Its first bankruptcy restructuring in 2024 was not enough to reset the balance sheet, and by mid-2025 the company had burned through hundreds of millions of dollars, borrowing heavily to stay afloat. A lease dispute with AerCap, its largest aircraft lessor, compounded the problem by leaving Spirit without planes it had expected to operate, reducing flexibility at a time when it needed it most.
The company insists that liquidation is not on the table and that Chapter 11 will allow it to restructure more aggressively. Executives have emphasized that flights, bookings, and employee pay will continue during the proceedings. However, financial observers remain skeptical. Fitch recently downgraded Spirit’s credit rating to “D,” signaling significant doubt over its ability to survive. Analysts warn that a so-called “Chapter 22”—a second bankruptcy leading to liquidation—is a very real possibility if Spirit cannot secure new financing and demonstrate progress toward profitability within the next year.
Other airlines are not facing the same level of distress. While the industry as a whole is challenged by inflation and higher fuel costs, larger carriers like Delta, United, and American have been able to weather the storm thanks to diversified route networks and stronger demand for both leisure and business travel. Spirit’s ultra-low-cost model, heavily reliant on price-sensitive passengers, has proven more vulnerable in the current environment. In fact, rivals are already circling Spirit’s markets. United has expanded flights from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, while Frontier has added routes from Detroit, Houston, and Baltimore, positioning themselves to capture customers who may be displaced by Spirit’s pullback.
For Spirit, the outlook remains precarious. On one hand, its decision to focus on core hubs and cut unprofitable routes could provide the breathing room it needs to reset operations. On the other, its rapid cash burn, unresolved debt issues, and loss of key leasing arrangements make survival far from guaranteed. The coming months will determine whether Spirit can pull off a turnaround, or whether its second trip through bankruptcy will mark the beginning of the end for one of the nation’s largest low-cost carriers.
