LISTEN: Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy

SALT LAKE CITY — Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, but the airline says customers won’t see disrupted travel plans during the process. 

ABC News Correspondent Alex Stone joined Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News to talk about the situation. 

 

Are Spirit Airlines tickets still valid? 

Stone says yes, your tickets will still be honored. 

“Everything will be normal,” he said. “You can book, you can use frequent flyer miles… Those don’t get anywhere.” 

He says the airline is working to fix their financial issues long-term, but in the short-term, everything is going to be “normal.” 

“They ​may ​or ​may ​not ​come ​out ​stronger ​in ​the ​end, ​but ​it’s ​not ​unusual ​for ​airlines ​to ​declare ​bankruptcy,” Stone said. 

A changing industry

Since the pandemic, the airline industry has changed, Stone explained, which has strongly affected the bargain aspect of Spirit Airlines.

“Customer preference, for whatever reason, has changed. There’s been a big switch where customers are willing to pay more to get more,” Stone said. 

He says there’s a stronger customer appetite to pay more for premium airfare. That’s why Southwest Airlines made the move to add extra legroom area, he said. 

Spirit Airlines offers a less “luxurious” experience, therefore it has struggled to get as much business as its counterparts, Stone said. 

Along with that, Spirit Airlines has had issues with some of its planes, due to problems with their Pratt & Whitney engines. Their merger failed with JetBlue as well, and they have lost over $2.5 billion since the beginning of 2020, Stone said. 

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