Duffy: Iran war ‘was not the impetus’ for Spirit shutting down amid rising fuel prices

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rebuffed the suggestion that Spirit Airlines was forced to shut down as a result of rising fuel prices brought on by the Iran war. 

“Spirit was in dire straits long before the war with Iran,” Duffy said during a press conference in New Jersey on Saturday. 

“Multiple times, they filed for bankruptcy. Their model wasn’t working,” the Trump administration official said. “They couldn’t get to fiscal health, so this was not the impetus. The war was not the impetus for Spirit.”

Spirit announced on Saturday that the company was “winding down its global operations, effective immediately.” The airline filed for bankruptcy twice in the last year. 

Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis told The Wall Street Journal that the airline’s recovery plan would have succeeded if not for the Iran war and surging energy prices. He noted the........

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