Spirit Cuts Continue: Airline To Eliminate 150 Jobs, Exit 5 Airports In January
Image Provided by John Cushma
What’s Changing & When
Spirit will eliminate roughly 150 salaried positions and withdraw from five stations in January 2026 as it pares back flying and fixed costs.
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Effective January 8, 2026: exits St. Louis (STL), Phoenix (PHX), and Rochester (ROC).
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Effective January 13, 2026: exits Milwaukee (MKE) and Bucaramanga (BGA).
These were small operations for Spirit: MKE (~6 routes); STL & ROC (~3 each); PHX (~2); BGA (1)—largely leisure flows to Florida/Caribbean/Las Vegas that should be core ULCC territory but haven’t met revenue targets.
Airports & Codes Affected (With Basics)
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STL — St. Louis Lambert International, Missouri (STL)
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PHX — Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Arizona (PHX)
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MKE — Milwaukee Mitchell International, Wisconsin (MKE)
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ROC — Frederick Douglass–Greater Rochester International, New York (ROC)
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BGA — Palonegro International, Bucaramanga, Colombia (BGA)
Fleet & Aircraft Details
Spirit’s operation is all-Airbus A320-family (A319/A320/A321, including A321neo). As part of its reset, management signaled cutting nearly 100 frames via early retirements, storage, and lease rejections; active fleet now ~132—about half of where 2025 began. Less metal means fewer city pairs and lower schedule depth.
Workforce Actions So Far
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Flight attendants: ~1,800 furloughed (≈ one-third of FAs).
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Pilots: 365 furloughed, 170 downgraded in October; earlier plan for 270 furloughs, with ~330 already executed.
These moves align with the smaller fleet and reduced flying profile.
Why Spirit Is Pulling Back
Spirit’s model leans on price-sensitive leisure flows, especially Florida/Caribbean/Las Vegas from the Eastern U.S. Those lanes are now crowded by legacies and hybrids (plus ULCC peers), compressing fares and upsell opportunities. Combine that with brand headwinds (customers gravitating to richer loyalty and premium cabins) and elevated overhead for a still-sizable airline, and you get a textbook attempt at “shrink to profitability.” In airlines, however, fixed costs and competitive responses can blunt that strategy.
What Travelers Should Expect
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Last flights into the five cities occur by Jan 13, 2026.
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Reaccommodation or refunds: Spirit indicates customers on affected itineraries will be rebooked on alternates when possible; otherwise refunds are issued.
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Plan B options: Given these are mostly leisure markets, look to legacy/hybrid carriers or other ULCCs for replacement nonstops or 1-stops; watch for fare bumps after exit dates.
Outlook
Spirit’s double-dip into Chapter 11 in 2025, deep fleet cuts, and station exits signal a company trying to stabilize cash and reset the network around markets where its unit costs and pricing power still work. The risk: shedding aircraft and presence can cede ground to rivals and limit future growth if demand snaps back or competitors entrench.
Bottom Line
Spirit will cut ~150 salaried jobs and pull out of STL, PHX, MKE, ROC, and BGA in January 2026, continuing an aggressive retrenchment alongside big fleet and crew reductions. It’s a classic ULCC survival play—get smaller, simplify, and chase only the strongest leisure flows—but it leaves less margin for error in an intensely competitive U.S. market.
