{"id":6403,"date":"2026-05-02T09:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/spirit-airlines-begins-wind-down-cancels-all-flights-over-fuel-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T09:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:25","slug":"spirit-airlines-begins-wind-down-cancels-all-flights-over-fuel-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/spirit-airlines-begins-wind-down-cancels-all-flights-over-fuel-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit Airlines begins \u2018wind-down\u2019, cancels all flights over fuel crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The collapse of the US-based budget carrier due to a doubling in jet fuel prices will cost thousands of jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Low-cost US carrier Spirit Airlines has said that all of its flights have been cancelled as it started an \u201corderly wind-down of operations,\u201d after a potential White House bailout fell through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., parent company of Spirit Airlines \u2026 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,\u201d the airline said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiritrestructuring.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>\u00a0in the early hours of Saturday.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/23\/lufthansa-cuts-20000-flights-as-iran-war-causes-jet-fuel-shortage\">Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights as Iran war causes jet fuel shortage<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/21\/eu-eyes-options-as-iran-conflict-threatens-jet-fuel-shortages\">EU eyes options as Iran conflict threatens jet fuel shortages<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/1\/commercial-flights-from-tehrans-main-airport-resume-amid-cautious-normalcy\">Commercial flights from Tehran\u2019s main airport resume amid cautious normalcy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/16\/jet-fuel-shortage-why-iran-war-could-ground-flights-in-europe\">Jet fuel shortage: Why Iran war could ground flights in Europe<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Spirit had 4,119 domestic flights scheduled between May 1 and May 15, offering 809,638 seats, according to the latest data from Cirium.<\/p>\n<p>The collapse of the carrier due to a doubling in jet fuel prices during the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/liveblog\/2026\/5\/2\/iran-war-live-trump-says-no-early-end-to-war-unhappy-with-tehran-offer\">two-month-old Iran war<\/a> will cost thousands of jobs. It is also a blow to US President Donald Trump, who had proposed $500m to save Spirit despite opposition from some of his closest advisers and many Republicans in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Spirit had reached a deal with its lenders that would have helped it emerge from its second bankruptcy by late spring or early summer. But those plans derailed after the US war on Iran triggered a spike in jet fuel prices, upending Spirit\u2019s cost projections and complicating its bankruptcy exit.<\/p>\n<p>A Spirit board meeting had ended without an agreement to rescue the company, a person close to the discussions told the Reuters news agency late on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, despite the Company\u2019s efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit\u2019s financial outlook,\u201d Spirit said in a statement announcing its \u201corderly wind-down\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Trump on Friday said the White House had given Spirit and its creditors a final rescue proposal, after talks hit an impasse over a $500m financing package that would have helped the airline keep operating through bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can help them, we will, but we have to come first,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cIf we could do it, we\u2019d do it, but only if it\u2019s a good deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spirit\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Reuters he had tried to get many airlines to buy Spirit but found no takers. \u201cWhat would someone buy?\u201d Duffy asked. \u201cIf no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A creditor close to the deal said, \u201cThe Trump administration made an extraordinary effort to try and save Spirit, but you can\u2019t breathe life into a corpse. Given that, the company should make its intentions clear for the sake of its customers and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No US carrier of Spirit\u2019s size \u2013 it accounted for 5 percent of US flights at one point \u2013 has liquidated in two decades. Spirit helped keep fares lower in markets where it competed against major carriers.<\/p>\n<p>Its collapse shows how the Iran war\u2019s fuel-price shock 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.<\/p>\n<p>German airline Lufthansa last month said it <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/23\/lufthansa-cuts-20000-flights-as-iran-war-causes-jet-fuel-shortage\">cancelled 20,000 flights<\/a> in a bid to protect itself from the soaring cost of oil.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Indian carrier Air India also said it has increased fuel surcharges on all flights and said it will cut 100 flights a day across domestic and international routes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The collapse of the US-based budget carrier due to a doubling in jet fuel prices will cost thousands of jobs. Low-cost US carrier Spirit Airlines has said that all of its flights have been cancelled as it started an \u201corderly wind-down of operations,\u201d after a potential White House bailout fell through. \u201cSpirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., &#8230; <a title=\"Spirit Airlines begins \u2018wind-down\u2019, cancels all flights over fuel crisis\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/spirit-airlines-begins-wind-down-cancels-all-flights-over-fuel-crisis\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Spirit Airlines begins \u2018wind-down\u2019, cancels all flights over fuel crisis\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}