South Florida travelers caught by surprise by Spirit Airlines impending shutdown
South Florida's hometown airline, Spirit Airlines, could be flying its final flights tonight, with multiple news outlets reporting the ultra-low-cost carrier may be shut down by Saturday. The news follows weeks of failed talks with creditors and the Trump administration.
Travel experts say the twice-bankrupt airline is facing imminent liquidation, leaving thousands of employees and customers in limbo.
"At this point, it sounds like we've reached the end for Spirit Airlines. It seems like the airline will liquidate any day now," said travel expert Eric Rosen from The Points Guy.
The federal government have attempted to help bail out Spirit Airlines, but airline creditors have said they are unwilling to do business with the airline due to its risky past.
"Spirit Airlines is like the terminal patient in the hospital. We didn't know exactly when it was going to die. We knew it would just happen. And that time has unfortunately come," Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst, said.
Passengers expressed anxiety when the news broke
Many passengers were caught by surprise, including Spirit customer Roger Hayder, who showed up at the airport after his flight was canceled.
"I made a reservation, and I tried to get the boarding card this morning, and it said canceled. I tried to text them and talk to them, nothing," Hayder said.
"Once I get to step up, I am not scared, but in the meantime, I'm scared. I don't know what's gonna happen. If they decide to shut down everything right away, you know we cannot fly," another Spirit passenger who was traveling to North Carolina, Eddie Alejandro, said.
One man told CBS News Miami that he was supposed to go to Houston for work, but once the news broke that the airline would probably be ceasing operations as early as Saturday, his flight plans were pushed back.
"These guys wasted a lot of, wasted a lot of appointments that I had today, and I wasn't able to make it to two times. I had to get off the airplane. I got it the first time, and it was delayed. They declined us. Go back to the terminal and then back to the plane. And then they canceled the flight," Ameer Rezk said.
At its height, Spirit Airlines was the largest employer in Broward County
Fort Lauderdale is home to Spirit, which at its height employed more than 3,000 employees in South Florida. Some have already been laid off, while others are looking for new jobs and waiting to see what happens next.
"I looked in the Wall Street Journal, and it said that they're going to be in the process of shutting down next week," said Shawn Rowan. "I won't be able to fly Spirit. That sucks because I live in Atlantic City and we have no other airlines flying back and forth to Florida".
The uncertainty is weighing heavily on travelers. Hayder, who has a return ticket for Sunday, admitted, "I'm in lala land. I don't know what's going to happen".
Travel experts advise stranded passengers to contact their credit card companies for potential refunds. "If you have a reservation on Spirit and you paid by credit card, you can contact your credit card company for a refund. If you are mid-trip, unfortunately, your return reservation is probably worthless," said travel expert Henry Hartevelt.
Throughout the evening on Friday, multiple airlines, such as American Airlines, United Airlines, Jet Blue, and Frontier, have posted social media posts offering to help and support stranded Spirit passengers.