Spirit Airlines – the feisty upstart that relied on irreverent ads and deep discount fares to compete against major carriers for 34 years  – permanently shut down Saturday, upending travel plans and sending customers scrambling to find alternative flights or a new way to their destination.

Company officials at the nation’s eighth-largest airline – which employed more than 17,000 staffers and operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes  –  announced they were shutting operations “effective immediately” after failing to secure a $500 million bailout from the federal government.

Two-hundred and seventy-seven Spirit flights scheduled for Saturday were cancelled – including 34 in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport and 18 at LaGuardia International Airport – with the majority out of the Southeast, according to FlightAware.

All other future flights have also been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available.

“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the company said. 

Spirit promised inconvenienced customers refunds but isn’t offering to help them book travel with other airlines.

People who bought from travel agents and other third-party vendors will have to seek refunds from them.

“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport. There will be no one here to assist you,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Saturday.

The Trump administration considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business, but no deal was reached. “We often times don’t have half a billion dollars lying around,” Duffy said.

President Trump floated the idea last week after the airline entered bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years, driven by rising jet fuel prices partly due to the conflict in Iran.

“I would say that at this ‌point, I don’t think it’s necessary,” Duffy said of a bailout during a Saturday press conference at Newark Airport.   

“They do have access to cash. If they want to come to the U.S. government, we would be a lender of last resort. If they can find dollars in the private markets—I think that’s better for them.”

The White House blamed the Biden Administration —  which sued to stop a planned merger between Spirit and JetBlue in 2024 — for contributing to Spirit’s eventual demise. Spirit would have been on much better footing if that merger had been allowed to proceed, officials said. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and several other lefty lawmakers separately sent a 2022 letter to the Biden administration’s Justice Department and Department of Transportation, helping block a proposed $6.6 billion merger between Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

“For decades, the airline industry has been plagued by increasing consolidation, producing massive airline giants while leaving consumers and workers behind,” they wrote.

Republicans said it’s the public who will now have to reap what radical Dems have sown. 

“The employees at Spirit who’ve lost their job loss, the travelers who will now pay higher fares, and the shareholders and debt holders who have been wiped out can thank Elizabeth Warren,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) on X.  “Electing left politicians, who have ZERO business experience, has consequences.”

“Stunning,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), responding to a social media post ripping Warren for playing a key role in Spirit’s closure.

The four major U.S. airlines — United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest — rushed to assist stranded Spirit customers who needed to rebook flights by offering capped $199 one-way “rescue fares.”

The move spurred long lines at airports nationwide, including United’s ticket counter at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and JetBlue’s terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Southwest Airlines is also offering special access fares for scorned Spirit fliers.

On Saturday morning, LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal A, where Spirit was based in NYC, largely resembled a ghost town.

The few passengers there were greeted by signs notifying them the airline had shuttered.

No Spirit staffers were on hand to assist, so most people had to rely on airport workers with limited information.

“I don’t know if I’m going to get my money back. Nobody cares!” said Steven Rainford, whose 4:42 pm flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florda, was cancelled.

“They just leave you here stranded,” said Rainford, who was planning to visit family. “I’m disappointed, and I need help. I don’t know how I’m going to get to Florida now. I know nothing. And I don’t have anybody to speak with.”

Oslayda Johnson, who returning to NYC following a trip to Jamaica, said she had to switch to JetBlue Friday night after being notified her Spirit flight was cancelled.

“I’m a mom of three kids,” said Johnson, 34, of Manchester, Connecticut. “I have a nanny staying with them, and I have to pay her extra because of the delays. Everyone is in limbo. I always say, ‘you get what you pay for with Spirit.’ All of this is sad.”

Spirit started out as a Michigan-based trucking company during the early 1960s. In 1992, it started offering charter flights and was renamed Spirit Airlines. The company became synonymous with its bright yellow planes and very cheap seating.

However, it struggled to turn a profit after travel dramatically decreased in 2020 following the pandemic.

The airline flew about 1.7 million passengers in February, down half a million from February 2025. Seating capacity was also reduced by half compared to May 2024.

“I think that if without Spirit or without like cheaper airlines, the price of other airlines is going to shoot up, and I think that’ll be a big problem, especially for me, because I fly a lot,” Detroit Metro Airport traveler Lucas Trivedi told CBS News Detroit.

“I mean, I’d probably have to pick the next cheapest way. I don’t even know what I’m going to do, probably look at Expedia and find the cheapest option,” student Mariel Vargas-vonBreymann said.

Passengers at LAX in Los Angeles grew frustrated hours before the 2 a.m. announcement by Spirt that its flights were permanently halted.

“There’s no workers here, so everybody’s just lost,” one traveler told NBCLA, in front of an empty ticket counter.

“Nobody’s there, and I’m kinda confused. I’m not gonna talk to an AI to figure out what I needed to do,” Rayeed Abubaker told the outlet.

It was not immediately known what would happen to the company’s properties, including its jets, following Saturday’s shutdown. 

With Post wires. Additional reporting by Geoff Earle.