Skip to main content
Cloudy icon
81º

Spirit airlines drops cancellation, change fees

FILE - A Spirit Airlines 319 Airbus approaches Manchester Boston Regional Airport for a landing, Friday, June 2, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. What's next for Spirit Airlines, now that it won't be merging with JetBlue? Some Wall Street analysts are starting to raise the possibility of bankruptcy. Spirit Airlines stock was falling again on Wednesday, Jan 17, 2024, a day after a federal judge blocked JetBlue's proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) (Charles Krupa, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Spirit Airlines is doing away with change and cancellation fees.

According to the low-cost carrier’s website, customers can modify and cancel their flights at no additional cost.

Recommended Videos



In the past, customers would pay fees ranging from $60 to $119 for any changes to their flights.

The change comes as Frontier Airlines created new fares to eliminate extra fees.

Frontier made the switch to four fare classes on Friday, which it calls basic, economy, premium and business. Those in “basic” will still have to pay extra for things like bringing a carry-on bag, selecting a particular seat and changing or canceling a reservation.

But change fees will be eliminated for passengers in the other three groups, who will also be able to buy extras such as seat selection and bringing a carry-on bag in bundles instead of singly.

Frontier also said it is bringing back phone support for customers within 24 hours of their flight.

Spirit Airlines deferred all aircraft on order from Airbus that were scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2025 through the end of 2026 last month.

Spirit said it came to an agreement with the European plane manufacturer to delay delivery of the planes until 2030 and 2031.

Florida-based Spirit also said it plans to furlough 260 pilots effective Sept. 1 as a result of the deferrals and ongoing problems with the availability of Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.

Pratt & Whitney recently agreed to compensate Spirit, which grounded 13 of the planes in question in January with the expectation that number would rise. Spirit estimated the compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney would improve its liquidity by between $150 million and $200 million.

The company’s stock plummeted to all-time lows this year after its $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue was blocked by a federal judge who said the deal would harm competition and increase prices for air travelers.

Before the JetBlue deal fell apart, the merger was considered a lifeline for the struggling Spirit, which last turned a full-year profit in 2019.


About the Authors
Veronica Crespo headshot

Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

Loading...

Recommended Videos