ORLANDO, Fla. – Reuters reported this week that a surge in jet fuel costs has put Spirit’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy in jeopardy and raised the risk of liquidation.
The report said immediate liquidation is not expected, but the airline’s latest financial pressure has renewed fears about its future.
That uncertainty matters in Orlando, where Spirit remains a major presence at Orlando International Airport. GOAA’s February 2026 passenger report shows Spirit carried 462,864 passengers at MCO that month, about 9.63% of the airport’s traffic.
“If the low budget guy goes away, that’s good for competition if you’re an airline, bad for fares if you’re that paying passenger,” News 6 business analyst Donovan Myrie said. “You don’t have that low budget airline, that low fare built in and you’re going to be paying higher fares.”
That was also the concern for some travelers at MCO Friday.
“It’s a little disheartening, since they probably are the cheapest way to fly,” Spirit passenger Stacy Conrad said. “People looking for a short-term getaway, a weekend, a quick business trip, it’s going to be doing them a disservice.”
Conrad said losing a budget airline would hit families especially hard, especially when airfare is often one of the biggest costs of a trip.
“If you’re trying to take your kids there, maybe for the first time, and it costs you $500 round trip for all of you to fly on a budget airline, well, that saves you a lot of money,” she said. “That’s a whole day’s ticket for all of you to get into Disney.”
Spirit has said in its restructuring materials that flights and operations continue during bankruptcy. In a March restructuring announcement, the airline said it still expected to emerge from Chapter 11 by early summer.
For now, Spirit is still flying. But if the airline’s financial problems keep getting worse, travelers who depend on cheap fares may be the ones who feel it most. Reuters also reported that Spirit’s recent fuel-cost problem stems from prices rising far above what the airline had assumed in its restructuring plan.