Martin Placek
Research expert covering transportation and electronics
Spirit Airlines is an ultra-low cost, low-fare airline which operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2021, they had the third-highest ancillary revenue share in the world.
Background information on Spirit Airlines
Originally the company was founded in 1964 as the Clipper Trucking Company, with the airline service starting in 1980 as Charter One, a Detroit-based charter flight company. In 1992, the company changed its name to Spirit Airlines and commenced its first scheduled flights within the United States. It relocated its headquarters to Miramar, in Florida, in 1999 and in 2001 commenced scheduled flights to limited international destinations. Their transition to an ultra-low cost carrier model commenced in 2007, with amenities being decoupled from the main ticket price. Their main passenger hubs are in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Detroit.Operating performance of Spirit Airlines
The company has seen significant growth over the last seven years until the coronavirus pandemic hit. Due to travel restrictions, their operating revenue decreased from 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to 1.8 billion dollars in 2020. Over the same period, Spirit Airlines’ capacity decreased by 33 percent to 27.7 billion available seat miles in 2020. In that year, the U.S. airline transported only 18.3 passengers.
