Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc. has announced the immediate wind-down of its airline operations, with all flights cancelled as of today. Passengers have been advised not to travel to airports, as no services will be operating.
The decision follows a period of attempted restructuring by Spirit Airlines, which had sought to improve its financial position and secure a sustainable future. The company said that a recent increase in oil prices, alongside other economic pressures, had significantly affected its outlook. Without access to additional funding, it stated that continuing operations was no longer possible.
Chief Executive Dave Davis said:For more than 30 years, Spirit Airlines has played a pioneering role in making travel more accessible and bringing people together while driving affordability across the industry.
In March 2026, we reached an agreement with our bondholders on a restructuring plan that would have allowed us to emerge as a go-forward business. However, the sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the Company. Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure. This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.
I want to thank the Administration, in particular Secretary Howard Lutnick and the U.S. Department of Commerce, for their extraordinary efforts to try to preserve jobs and service across the country, along with the U.S. Department of Transportation for their assistance to minimise the disruption to our Guests in the days and weeks ahead.
The airline stated that refunds for tickets purchased directly using credit or debit cards would be processed automatically to the original form of payment. Passengers who booked through travel agents have been advised to contact those agents directly. Compensation for bookings made using vouchers, credits or loyalty points will be addressed as part of ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Further information regarding the wind-down process is expected to be made available through official company channels.
American Airlines is offering rescue fares in Main Cabin on select routes to help impacted Spirit customers.
