Business | Flying low

Spirit’s woes reveal the dismal state of America’s budget airlines

Its bankruptcy shows how strained the low-cost model has become

Aerial photo of a Spirit Airlines aeroplane on the runway. — Photograph: Getty Images

Nov 19th 2024

Budget airlines are rarely loved by passengers. Cutting costs to the bone and charging for every conceivable extra makes for cheap fares but often unpleasant journeys. Few will therefore have much sympathy for the tribulations of Spirit Airlines, perhaps America’s most despised low-cost carrier (lcc), which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 18th. Yet its failure, which illustrates the parlous state of America’s budget airlines, should worry travellers.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Spirit of the times”