Spirit Airlines shuts down, cancels all flights over fuel crisis

Low-cost US carrier Spirit Airlines has decided to cancel all of its flights as it purportedly started an “orderly wind-down of operations,” after a potential White House bailout fell through and rescue talks collapsed.

“Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., parent company of Spirit Airlines … today regretfully announced that the Company has started an orderly wind-down of operations, effective immediately. All Spirit flights have been cancelled, and Spirit Guests should not go to the airport,” the airline said in a statement in the early hours of Saturday.

Spirit had 4,119 domestic flights scheduled between May 1 and May 15, offering 809,638 seats, according to the latest data from Cirium.

The collapse of the carrier due to a doubling in jet fuel prices during the two-month-long US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran will cost thousands of jobs.

It also marks a major blow to US President Donald Trump, who had proposed $500 million to save Spirit despite opposition from some of his closest advisers and many Republicans in Congress.

Spirit had struck a deal with its lenders that would have helped it emerge from its second bankruptcy by late spring or early summer. But those plans hit a snag after the US-Israeli onslaught on Iran triggered a spike in jet fuel prices, upending Spirit’s cost projections and complicating its bankruptcy exit.

“Unfortunately, despite the Company’s efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,” Spirit said in a statement announcing its “orderly wind-down”.

US gasoline prices hit four-year high as Europe faces jet fuel crisis amid war on Iran

New data has revealed that the US is currently facing a significant spike in gasoline prices, with the average cost reaching its highest point in nearly four years.

Trump on Friday said the White House had given Spirit and its creditors a final rescue proposal, after talks hit an impasse over a $500-million financing package that would have helped the airline keep operating through bankruptcy.

“If we can help them, we will, but we have to come first,” Trump told reporters. “If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal.”

Spirit’s restructuring plan assumed jet fuel costs of about $2.24 a gallon in 2026 and $2.14 in 2027, but prices had climbed to about $4.51 a gallon by the end of April, leaving the carrier unable to survive without new financing.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asserted he had tried to get many airlines to buy Spirit but found no takers.

“What would someone buy?” Duffy asked. “If no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?”

The report comes as no US carrier of Spirit’s size, which once accounted for 5 percent of US flights, has liquidated in two decades. Spirit helped keep fares lower in markets where it competed against major carriers.

Its collapse shows how the fuel-price shock from the unprovoked and large-scale Iran war has exposed weaker airlines.

Across the globe, airlines have been increasing prices to reflect the high cost of jet fuel and some airlines have also cut flights.

On February 28, the United States and Israel initiated a large-scale and unprovoked war against Iran with the assassination of Iran’s late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military commanders.

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces executed 100 waves of counterattacks over 40 days, targeting US and Israeli military assets, which resulted in significant damage.

A Pakistani-mediated two-week ceasefire was brokered on April 8, allowing for negotiations in Islamabad, where Iran proposed a ten-point plan seeking US troop withdrawal and the lifting of sanctions.

Despite 21 hours of intense talks on April 11 and 12, the Iranian delegation returned to Tehran without an agreement, citing deep mistrust regarding Washington’s willingness to honor its commitments.

Iran has made clear that any return to ceasefire negotiations depends on the lifting of the US naval blockade. Officials have argued that the continued blockade constitutes a violation of the truce.

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