The collapse of Spirit Airlines last weekend immediately led to a mass cancellation of its flights and left over 15,000 people unemployed, but there will be further ramifications on commercial aviation. A small airport outside of Pittsburgh was impacted harder than anywhere else. Spirit Airlines was the only commercial carrier flying out of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. That facility was the only airport in the entire country that was exclusively served by Spirit.
The airport named after the legendary golfer hopes to draw in another airline to fill the void left by Spirit. Palmer Airport was already planning to open a $22 million expansion in July, which will be vital in attracting carriers. However, the airport won’t be able to operate normally with just chartered flights and private jets until commercial service returns. Moe Haas, Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director, told WTAE, “We’ll probably have a workforce reduction. We hate to do it because it’s one big family here at the airport. A lot of people put their heart and soul into making this place thrive.”
Other carriers could fill the void left by Spirit
Palmer Airport’s predicament might be the most extreme possible scenario, but it’s illustrative of Spirit Airlines’ role at many small regional airports. Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey was in a similar situation. According to WPVI, Spirit accounted for 75% of its commercial flights. With Atlantic City being a bit more of a destination than Latrobe, Pennsylvania, it was a little easier to find another carrier. Breeze Airways began operations there on Wednesday, with the airport expecting to fully replace its lost service by December.
Despite Spirit’s demise, there will always be travelers looking for the most affordable flights possible. Other carriers are looking to capitalize on the moment and take Spirit’s place as a leader in the low-cost market. Breeze is a good example. The airline was founded in 2021 by David Neeleman, who also founded JetBlue and WestJet. He created the carrier purposely to bring commercial flights to underserved markets. Just this week, Breeze announced four new routes previously flown by Spirit as part of an 11-route expansion. There’s hope that low-cost flying might not be dead.
