By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK (Reuters) -If Spirit Airlines slashes or eliminates service at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport due to the carrier's second bankruptcy in a year, residents of Latrobe, Pennsylvania,
may soon have to drive 65 miles to Pittsburgh if they need to fly anywhere.
“We have 150,000 people that want to go somewhere,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority in southwest Pennsylvania. Spirit is the only commercial airline currently servicing the airport.
Spirit announced it would reduce its November flight capacity by 25% and is furloughing one-third of its flight attendants to save money after filing for bankruptcy last month. If it slashes service to Latrobe, "It would be a real deficit to air transportation here," Monzo said.
Since the pandemic, discount airlines have struggled, and many have been trying to go up-market. Spirit's latest bankruptcy filing was in August.
As part of its cost cutting efforts, it plans to end service to 11 locales. Regional airport operators, some of whom count on Spirit as their only discount carrier, say it will leave fewer affordable options for Americans flying on a budget.
Spirit has a unique relationship with the Arnold Palmer airport, named after the famous golf champion, a native son who died in 2016. Westmoreland County spends about $900 million annually to support Spirit's operations at the facility, which otherwise serves small private planes.
"When Spirit decided to move in, the airport was very limited in capabilities and it was not compatible with commercial air service. But we changed all that," said Monzo.
"I fly Spirit all the time," said Darlene Wommer, who was waiting to board a flight to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to visit her father. "I'm going to miss it a lot if it goes."
Spirit said its presence has helped lower consumers' fares for 30 years, whether they fly directly with the airline or not.
The company arranged to merge with JetBlue in 2024, but the deal was blocked by the U.S. Department of Justice, citing harm to customers. That decision has forced Spirit to shrink its operations, even as airport operators across the U.S. have sought out Spirit to boost regional flight connectivity.
One of the casualties was a plan for twice-a-week flights from Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon-Bibb County to Fort Lauderdale for as low as $50 each way. Spirit had announced that plan through a partnership this year with Contour Airlines of Smyrna, Tennessee, but later scrapped it before it could kick off in October.
"Our community was excited about it, so it's disappointing that they're not going to be able to do that," said Doug Faour, Macon-Bibb County's aviation director.
"We are evaluating our options as we implement our transformation to best position Spirit for the future," Spirit said. Contour did not respond to a request for comment.
Spirit also plans to stop service to Albuquerque International Sunport, leaving New Mexico’s largest commercial airport without any ultra-low-cost carriers. Discount airlines Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air already departed from Albuquerque.
"It was a big deal getting them here initially," said Daniel Jiron, associate director at Albuquerque International Sunport. "We wanted them to be successful."
Without lower-cost carriers, travelers flying from Albuquerque to Las Vegas may see prices rise, Jiron said. About half the passengers transiting the airport use Southwest Airlines, according to TD Cowen.
The Arnold Palmer airport is weighing other low-cost options, as it has not heard yet if it will be on the chopping block. Monzo said people are counting on the airline to pull through.
"Our loyalty to Spirit is strong. We are going to work with them to help them thrive in any way we can."
(Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; additional reporting by Quinn Glabicki in Latrobe, Penn.; editing by David Gaffen and David Gregorio)
