Spirit Airlines has announced it is going out of business after 34 years. The ultra-low-cost airline known for its bright yellow planes and deep discount fares said Saturday it has started winding down operations.
People compare them to Ryanair in Europe but that’s a gross mischaracterisation.
Ryanair is a notorious fuel hedger, locking in prices 12+ months in advance. They also have a craptonne of cash balance that Spirit never built up, so they are completely differently positioned to handle the fuel price shock in 2026.
Unions play a big part as well - in the US, there was a single Union negotiation on behalf of crew but Ryanair didn’t even recognise unions until 2017 and they still have a lot of national unions that they can pick and choose from. While I abhor Ryanair’s anti-union stance it does leave them very well positioned for survival compared to Spirit.
Ryanair have been overthrowing a lot of national carriers that had a LOT of inefficiency in it, whereas Spirit were fighting against large, federal/international carriers with much more heft to them, both to accept price wars and the handle connecting flights (something Europeans generally loathe and Americans accept). It means a lot of the international flights were fed by the airlines’ own routes, rather than Spirit.
Overall, completely different market place. Man, it would be interesting to see Ryanair enter the US.
People compare them to Ryanair in Europe but that’s a gross mischaracterisation.
Ryanair is a notorious fuel hedger, locking in prices 12+ months in advance. They also have a craptonne of cash balance that Spirit never built up, so they are completely differently positioned to handle the fuel price shock in 2026.
Unions play a big part as well - in the US, there was a single Union negotiation on behalf of crew but Ryanair didn’t even recognise unions until 2017 and they still have a lot of national unions that they can pick and choose from. While I abhor Ryanair’s anti-union stance it does leave them very well positioned for survival compared to Spirit.
Ryanair have been overthrowing a lot of national carriers that had a LOT of inefficiency in it, whereas Spirit were fighting against large, federal/international carriers with much more heft to them, both to accept price wars and the handle connecting flights (something Europeans generally loathe and Americans accept). It means a lot of the international flights were fed by the airlines’ own routes, rather than Spirit.
Overall, completely different market place. Man, it would be interesting to see Ryanair enter the US.
Every landing ends with U.S.A. U.S.A.