Spirit Airlines, a non-renovation operator, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has announced.
As NBC NewsSpirit has gone through tough years, characterized by growing debt, quarterly losses and failed merger with JetBlue.
But bankruptcy doesn’t mean the company is going to Kaput (monopoly board games proved to be a very poor economics teacher). Instead, Spirit’s statement ensures Wall Street has reached an agreement with bondholders to provide enough financing to keep the spirit of doing business until hopes of bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2025.
OK, but what does spiritual bankruptcy mean for travelers?
Not much for the time being.
In an open letter to customers, Spirit promised that normal operations should be carried out during the financial restructuring period.
According to the statement, “You can continue booking and flying now and in the future,” “You can use all tickets, points and loyalty points the normal way.”
Expect any mental flight you have already booked to go as planned, especially during a busy Thanksgiving trip.
Your common flyer miles and points are still important. (Those may continue even if the spirit merges with the competitors.)
Later in the winter, the spirit may make schedule changes and flight cancellations, USA Today warnas the company continues to resolve its financial problems.
If the spirit changes your flight, you should receive notifications from the airline about your booking as the scheduled departure date is approaching.
Just in case, familiar with the U.S. Department of Transportation New rules for delaying and canceling flights (TL; DR: You are automatically entitled to a full refund for cancellation or delay of domestic trips for more than 3 hours).
The possibility of a spirit merger with JetBlue, Frontier Airlines or other carriers may be revived in the long run, especially in USA Today It is described as a “different regulatory environment” expected to emerge after the Biden administration leaves.
When we get there, we will deal with what this means to the spiritual passenger.