Beleaguered budget travel company Spirit Airlines is making a major change in its offerings just a week after filing for bankruptcy protection for a second time in less than a year.
The airline's parent company, Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., announced on Sept. 3 that it received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York related to its voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring.
The airline will "continue operating as usual, including honoring tickets, reservations, credits and loyalty points; paying wages and honoring benefits; and paying certain critical vendors and partners for goods and services delivered prior to the filing date. In addition, Spirit intends to pay vendors and suppliers for goods and services provided on or after the filing date in the ordinary course."
Cities that will have their Spirit Airlines routes suspended
Despite continuing operations, Spirit will consolidate its flights and plans to cancel routes to 11 American cities, reports USA Today . Beginning Oct. 2, flights to the following destinations will be permanently suspended:
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Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ)
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Birmingham, Alabama (BHM)
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Boise, Idaho (BOI)
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Chattanooga, Tennessee (CHA)
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Columbia, South Carolina (CAE)
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Oakland, California (OAK)
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Portland, Oregon (PDX)
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Sacramento, California (SMF)
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Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC)
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San Diego, California (SAN)
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San Jose, California (SJC)
Additionally, the airline will no longer move forward with plans to offer service to Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon, Georgia.
Related: Southwest Airlines Implements Major Change to Signature Offering
Spirit Airlines addresses bankruptcy filing
Spirit's latest bankruptcy woes follow in the wake of a November 2024 bankruptcy filing. Though the company emerged from those proceedings in March, longtime CEO Ted Christie stepped down from the company and from its board of directors in April.
"Since emerging from our previous restructuring, which was targeted exclusively on reducing Spirit's funded debt and raising equity capital, it has become clear that there is much more work to be done and many more tools are available to best position Spirit for the future," said Dave Davis, Spirit's new President and Chief Executive Officer, in an Aug. 29 statement . "After thoroughly evaluating our options and considering recent events and the market pressures facing our industry, our Board of Directors decided that a court-supervised process is the best path forward to make the changes needed to ensure our long-term success."
The executive continued, noting that the company has "evaluated every corner of our business and are proceeding with a comprehensive approach in which we will be far more strategic about our fleet, markets and opportunities in order to best serve our Guests, Team Members and other stakeholders."
In addition to redesigning its network, Spirit plans to optimize its fleet size, which it says will "significantly lower Spirit's debt and lease obligations." The airline projects this will "generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual operating savings."
It also plans to address "further efficiencies across the business." According to CNBC , the airline previously announced that it was planning to furlough hundreds of pilots this fall after warning that it was possible that it wouldn't last a year without significantly increasing its cash.
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This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
