Spirit Airlines to end service in 12 cities as rivals swoop in

Spirit Airlines is ending flight service in a dozen cities less than a week after the discount carrier announced it was filing for bankruptcy for a second time this year.

The Florida company confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that it would exit the following markets on Oct. 2: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, California; and San Jose, California. The airline also said it is nixing plans to to launch service in Macon, Georgia, which was slated for Oct. 16.

Spirit serves dozens of cities in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean according to its route map.

"We apologize to our Guests for any inconvenience this may cause and will reach out to those with affected reservations to notify them of their options, including a refund," a Spirit spokesperson told CBS News in an email statement.

The news comes at a financially tumultuous time for the budget carrier. Spirit initially filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2024 after years of of struggling with rising operation costs and mounting debt. Just months after emerging from Chapter 11 reorganization, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection again in August.

At the time, Spirit said it intended to conduct business as usual during the restructuring process, signaling passengers would still be able to book flights and use tickets.

Spirit is seeking to cut costs by eliminating money-losing routes. In its quarterly earnings report in August, the company said it had "substantial doubt" about its ability to stay in business, citing factors including weak demand for domestic leisure travel and "adverse market conditions."

Rival airlines reacted quickly by announcing new lineups of domestic flights and international flights as they sought to gain some of the market share left in Spirit's absence.

United Airlines, the world's largest airline carrier, said in an email statement that it would add flights to 15 cities starting Jan. 6 including trips to and from Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Las Vegas.

"If Spirit suddenly goes out of business it will be incredibly disruptive, so we're adding these flights to give their customers other options if they want or need them," Patrick Quayle, United's senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said in the company's statement.

In response to United's statement, a spokesperson for Spirit said, "While we appreciate the obsession certain airline executives have with us, we're focused on competing and running a great operation." Spirit plans to continue offering low fares to customers "for many years to come," the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines, a low-cost airline carrier based out of Denver, announced it was introducing 20 new routes from Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte and Dallas. The flights range in price from $29 to $89.