Spirit Airlines has been shut down after struggling financially for several years. On top of that, the war between Iran and the United States is making gas prices go up, which does not help with their existing financial struggles. Ever since the pandemic, Spirit has been on the verge of shutting down, and on May 2, 2026, the company shut down for good after 34 years of service, according to CNN.
Spirit has tried to sell itself to JetBlue airlines, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued for this because the decision would apparently be worse for consumers because JetBlue’s cost would go up, stated by View from the Wing. The dispute in court lasted about eight months, where a federal judge ruled in favor of the DOJ. Spirit has never recovered from their financial loss, according to CBS.
Since 2024, Spirit has gone bankrupt twice, including the most recent shutdown. In 2024, Spirit was considering bankruptcy because they had over 3 billion dollars in debt. That year, as mentioned by CNN, the charge for an economy flight was only $136, which was 61% under an average American flight.
The Trump administration was considering “saving Spirit employees”, but Spirit didn’t give the Trump administration enough money for a buyout, per NPR. The decision was strongly debated by the Trump administration, but in the end, they didn’t buy Spirit, according to AOL.
Trump has also attempted to blame former president Joe Biden since in 2022, when Spirit tried to sell to JetBlue, but Biden’s DOJ stepped in to stop this from happening. Biden said in response to this “We want competition. We’re not going to allow this merger to happen.’ And because of that, right after, Spirit filed for bankruptcy. Biden and his administration celebrated the decision for customers, according to The Independent.
On top of Spirit not being in the best financial position, the ongoing U.S. and Iran war pushed them over the edge to shut down. The result of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz caused every single country in the entire world to suffer because of it. Per gallon, oil now costs about $4, according to IATA.
Dave Davis was Spirit’s Chief Executive Officer, and makes note that because oil prices are as high as they have ever been, so he had made the tough decision to shut down Spirit for good. He was very disappointed, but if he did not make that choice, then Spirit would most likely be doing even worse economically. In relation to this, he stated that “This is tremendously disappointing”, according to Time.
In addition to Davis’s many statements on Spirit’s closure, he apologized to every person’s flight was canceled given that Spirit shut down on May 2, 2026. He apologized about unintentional tickets sold, according to MSN. Fortunately, most people who bought flight tickets got refunded after the shutdown, stated by The Hill.
Spirit Airlines was known to be very inexpensive when compared to other airlines. Ever since the pandemic, its economy has gone on a constant downhill. It is truly unfortunate that the company has shut down after airing in 1992 and serving for 34 years. It is the first major airline to take at least 20 years before it shuts down.
