How Spirit Airlines' uncertain future could add cost and stress to travel across America
Spirit Airlines airplanes at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Spirit Airlines Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 26. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A federal judge's order blocking a $3.8 billion-dollar deal that would have JetBlue Airways purchase rival Spirit Airlines leaves Spirit with an uncertain future. But the ruling didn't just leave the airlines with uncertainty; it sent shudders through some of Spirit's key constituencies.

Few places will feel the impact harder than the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (LBE) if Spirit can't keep flying. About an hour east of downtown Pittsburgh in the city of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the airport serves the gritty coal towns east of Pittsburgh but also lures in travelers from a three-state area with free parking, short TSA lines, and low fares from Spirit. The Arnold Palmer Regional Airport has almost all the amenities of any major airport, just on a smaller scale. There's a baggage claim, car rental counters, and DeNuzio's Chophouse to feed travelers while waiting for their flight. But all the travelers in the passenger area hold boarding passes for one airline: Spirit.

That is because Spirit Airlines is the only commercial carrier to provide service to LBE.

"Being that they are the only one, they are really important; it would be devastating if they would go belly up," said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the airport.

Spirit has trimmed its schedule at LBE from several daily flights to one direct flight to Orlando.

But Monzo says service will likely resume to Myrtle Beach in the spring.

A 2022 study by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation put the regional economic impact of arriving and departing passengers from LBE at $213.9 million. Monzo says $100 million of that is from Spirit Airlines travelers.

Spirit's bargain-basement fare fliers

LBE won't be the only one left in the lurch if Spirit can't find a path forward.

Spirit Airlines fills a niche for leisure travelers, college students, missionaries, and others seeking bargain basement, no-frills fares.

Professor Jase Ramsey, a Florida Gulf Coast University management professor in Fort Myers, has two stakes in Spirit Airlines: he uses the airline for family vacations from service at nearby Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), and incorporates Spirit into his courses.

From a family perspective, he said a Florida without Spirit hurts in two directions. Its absence from the market will likely raise prices for incoming tourists from the north. But it will also cut off affordable vacation options for South Florida families heading to the Caribbean.

"This will be bad for our region if something happens to Spirit from a price perspective. They are usually our low-cost leader. If you want to do a family vacation out of here, that is your go-to airline," Ramsey said.