It’s been a rough few months for Spirit Airlines as they look for any way to turn a profit. Over the last few months, the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) has tweaked its route map, overhauled its business model, furloughed pilots, and even pondered bankruptcy. Now, Spirit is tweaking its route map once again, eliminating routes that it added months earlier.
According to airline route guru IshrionA, the carrier is cutting at least five routes, with more possible. The routes being reported so far are:
- Richmond, VA (RIC) – Las Vegas (LAS)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Columbus, OH (CMH)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Pittsburgh (PIT)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Nashville (BNA)
- Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) – San Antonio (SAT)
Spirit Airlines is making another big wave of routes cancelations again.
— Ishrion Aviation (@IshrionA) October 25, 2024
Some routes like RIC-LAS, LAX-CMH/PIT/BNA, DFW-SAT are set to be canceled in the coming weeks or months.
But some new routes are being added š
I wish I could say I was surprised by some of the reported cuts but, as I wrote when the DFW-SAT route was first announced earlier this year, “the San Antonio flights are the real head scratcher here as American currently flies the relatively short route up to 13 times a day.”
As noted in the Tweet above, it’s not all bad news on the route front for Spirit. The carrier is planning on adding three new lines to its route map from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The new routes will offset some of the losses mentioned above by adding flights to:
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
- San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
The three new destinations from Atlanta are also expected to see special Mardi Gras flights from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY).
While this happens to be the latest route shuffle for Spirit, it certainly won’t be the last. The carrier is trying whatever it can to turn its fortunes around but, it seems like a merger with fellow ULCC Frontier could be the best course of action.
Summary
Spirit Airlines continues to make changes to its route map as the carrier attempts to return to profitability. The airline has been plagued with issues in recent months and, unfortunately, a bankruptcy or a merger may be the only thing that can right the ship.
I assume the SAT-DFW flights are to feed people into more of their DFW destinations. That’s the main reason AA does that route so often.
That was the plan, though it doesn’t appear to have taken off like they expected.
DFW is AA’s largest hub so they will always have tons of capacity on any route there.