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Spirit Airlines kiosks opened at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on May 2, hours after the carrier shut down.<\/p>\n
Leslie Josephs\/CNBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
BALTIMORE\/NEW YORK – Spirit Airlines was hours away from its final flight Friday afternoon. Jeremiah Burton was hours away from his first.<\/p>\n
“This is my first time flying,” Burton, a 45-year-old air conditioning and heating technician, told CNBC at Baltimore\/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Friday, shortly before departing for New Orleans to visit her daughter and her newborn twins.<\/p>\n
“To tell you the truth, I just went online and searched for the cheapest airline ticket on Google,” he said, adding that he paid about $500 for the trip late last month. He was scheduled to return on May 6.<\/p>\n
While Burton waited for his flight, Spirit was making final preparations to shut down overnight, ending a three-decade run that provided discount air travel to millions across the United States and as far away as Peru. Spirit canceled international flights Thursday to avoid leaving passengers, aircraft and flight crew stranded. The airline said it flew more than 50,000 people a day before its collapse.<\/p>\n
Spirit bondholders rejected an 11th-hour bailout proposal from the Trump administration that would have included up to $500 million to keep the ailing airline afloat. The deal would have put the government ahead of claims by other bondholders and given it up to a 90% stake in the airline. <\/p>\n
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Spirit CEO Dave Davis to tell him there was no deal and that bondholders and the government were far from an agreement, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bondholders sent a letter to Spirit’s board, confirming that the end was near.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A self-check-in kiosk at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport displays an “Operational Update” message after Spirit Airlines announced it was ceasing operations early Saturday amid an impasse in negotiations with some creditors over a $500 million government bailout plan in Carolina, Puerto Rico, May 2, 2026<\/p>\n
Reuters\/Ricardo Arduengo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Before dawn on Saturday, Spirit’s website and app were up with a message that operations had ended. It read, “To our guests: All flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available.”<\/p>\n
By noon, LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal, an Art Deco facility that opened in 1940 and was home to Pan Am’s Clippers \u2014 and, more recently, home to Spirit at New York Airport \u2014 was almost quiet.<\/p>\n
Sibo Express closed half a day early because there were no customers to serve. CNBC last seen Transportation Security Administration officer who was sent home early. The screen on the arch of the yellow kiosk reads: “We are sad to inform you that Spirit Airlines has ceased global operations.”<\/p>\n “It’s been an honor to bring friends and families together for 34 years,” reads the caption, along with a QR code with next steps.<\/p>\n United Airlines