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Spirit Airlines could shut down operations within days, leaving thousands of passengers with tickets in hand without flights or immediate refunds, according to reports published this week by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC.
The low-cost airline based in Dania Beach, Florida is experiencing its worst crisis since it declared bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year, and now faces an additional blow: the price of aviation fuel surged by approximately 95% since the outbreak of war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran on February 28, 2026.
Jet fuel averaged $4.88 per gallon on April 2 in major U.S. markets, according to data from Argus, making the restructuring plan that Spirit had negotiated with its creditors unfeasible just days before the attacks on Iran began.
That plan included reducing the airline's debt from approximately $7.4 billion to $2 billion, with an exit from bankruptcy expected this spring or summer.
But creditors are now assessing whether to proceed with that scheme or to move directly towards the total liquidation of the company.
Analysts from JPMorgan estimated that if fuel remains around $4.60 per gallon, Spirit's projected operating margin for 2026 would drop from negative 7% to negative 20%, with additional costs of up to $360 million, a figure that exceeds the $337 million in cash the company had at the end of 2025.
Citibank, representing the lenders, also objects to Spirit's attempt to split a $275 million loan into two parts, arguing that it would violate the original contract and the legal protections regarding the collateral.
Before this new crisis erupted, pilots and flight attendants had made salary concessions to help the airline survive. However, aviation analyst Ben Mutzabaugh from The Points Guy was blunt: There isn't much more they can do to steer back on course; they are backed into a corner.
The spokesperson for Spirit responded briefly to media inquiries: "We do not comment on market rumors or speculation."
For passengers with purchased tickets, the situation is particularly delicate. Spirit has few interoperability agreements with major airlines such as Delta or United, which means their tickets are unlikely to be honored by other companies in the event of closure.
Experts recommend checking the "service failure" coverage of credit cards to initiate a refund and seeking travel alternatives immediately without voluntarily canceling flights.
The impact would be especially severe for residents of South Florida, where Spirit operates its main hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and a crew base in Miami, with key routes to Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba.
The Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, would also lose air service, where Spirit has been the sole commercial operator for the past 15 years.
Gabe Monzo, Executive Director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, confirmed that they are already in talks with other low-cost airlines: "We have the staff, we have the equipment. We are positioned to move wherever necessary."
Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways are the competitors with the most overlapping routes with Spirit and would be the most advantaged in the event of a potential shutdown, according to analyst Michael Linenberg from Deutsche Bank.
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