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Days after the abrupt closure of Spirit Airlines, dozens of passengers remained stranded at airports across the United States, unable to retrieve their luggage, without customer service assistance, and uncertain about when - or if - they would see the money invested in their tickets again, according to press reports.
The airline halted all its operations early Saturday morning immediately and without an orderly transition: the check-in counters were deserted, customer service was deactivated, and thousands of passengers in transit found themselves without staff, without flights, and, in many cases, without their luggage.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the main hub for Spirit, has been without airline staff since early Saturday morning.
Grace Florez, a passenger traveling from North Carolina to Colombia with a layover in Fort Lauderdale, has been without knowledge of the whereabouts of her five suitcases for nearly two days and cannot take an alternative flight without them.
"I can't fly because I don't have my luggage, so I'm stuck here," Florez told NBC 6.
"When the email arrived at 5 in the morning saying that the flight had been canceled, I went down to collect my luggage. The luggage was nowhere to be found, and there were no Spirit employees," he added.
Displacement is not limited to travelers.
The closure left 17,000 workers in limbo overnight, including employees from the modern corporate campus in Fort Lauderdale, where Spirit had invested $100 million just two years ago in an 11-acre expansion and four buildings, the future of which is now uncertain.
"Thinking about how we can reapply to new airlines," said a Spirit employee interviewed by Telemundo 51.
For those who lost their luggage, time is running out: passengers have a maximum of 21 days to file their claim at spiritrestructuring.com, and amidst the bankruptcy process, any delay could mean losing it all.
Regarding refunds, passengers who paid with credit or debit card can dispute the charge directly with their bank as the fastest option.
Those who paid with credits, miles, or travel agencies will have to wait for the bankruptcy legal process, with no guarantee of recovering the full amount of money.
The miles accumulated in the Free Spirit program are, according to experts, "a thing of the past."
The announcement of the possible closure of Spirit Airlines had been circulating weeks prior, but the speed of the collapse surprised both passengers and employees alike.
The airline declared bankruptcy in November 2024 and filed for a second judicial protection in August 2025, accumulating more than 8.1 billion dollars in debt.
Experts warn that the disappearance of Spirit—offering fares 30% to 50% lower than traditional airlines—will disrupt the competitive balance in the market: analysis of previous routes shows an average fare increase of 23% following the airline's exit.
"Now that they have left, I believe the fares will rise over time, as other airlines have the opportunity to increase their prices," warned an expert quoted by Telemundo 51.
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