Spirit Airlines pulls plug on flights, moves toward closure

Spirit Airlines announced early Saturday that it will immediately shut down operations after failing to reach a deal for a government bailout, citing rising oil prices as a major factor.

The airline’s parent company Spirit Aviation Holdings started “an orderly wind-down of operations” and cancellation of all flights, urging travelers who purchased tickets through Spirit “not [to] go to the airport,” according to a statement. Customers were advised that they will receive refunds but would not receive help to book new flights through other airlines.

Spirit president and CEO Dave Davis said the company reached an agreement for a “restructuring plan” to move forward.

“However, the sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the Company,” Davis wrote in the statement. “Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure.”

He added, “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us........

© The Hill