Spirit Airlines cuts 24 routes and adds 7 more in latest network overhaul

Spirit Airlines is once again making major changes to its network.

This time, the Dania Beach, Florida-based airline is leaving a whopping 24 routes. This was first spotted on Cirium schedules and later confirmed by an airline spokesperson.

The cuts are far-reaching and a full list of affected routes can be found below. Some of the hardest-hit cities include Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, which have seen at least three route cuts.

From Charlotte, Spirit will stop flying to Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Los Angeles. Without these flights, there will be less competition in these markets, which will likely allow large network carriers already flying these routes to raise their fares.

Spirit’s cuts will have a particularly big impact in transit markets (such as those mentioned above), where network airlines often charge a hefty premium for their direct flights due to the lack of much competition. For example, American Airlines will be the only airline flying from Charlotte to Los Angeles.

Other affected Dallas-Fort Worth routes include flights to Houston, San Antonio and Tampa. American and Frontier Airlines operate all three routes.

Perhaps one of the most interesting cuts is the Boston to Newark flight, which Spirit only resumed flying in May. (It last operated in 2021.) This short, 200-mile shuttle route is already well served by several daily flights from Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, so Spirit’s twice-daily flights faced stiff competition from the start.

The Spirit flight reductions have already been updated to the airline’s schedule, and affected customers will be eligible for a full refund or reassignment to other Spirit flights.

It’s not all bad news, however. Spirit is adding seven new routes, four of which are limited-time routes for the New Orleans Mardi Gras season. On February 20, 2025, the airline will begin flights from New Orleans to Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Memphis; and San Antonio.

These flights are specifically designed to meet the peak demand of tourists heading to Mardi Gras. Unless they exceed expectations, I wouldn’t expect these routes to last beyond this limited time.

Later next year, Spirit will add three new routes from Atlanta, all of which will compete with Delta. (Delta operates a megahub in the city.) Southwest Airlines also serves all three of these routes.

Spirit will begin flying to Columbus and San Antonio on April 9, 2025. It will then depart on May 7, 2025 on a third new route from Atlanta to Indianapolis.

These changes follow another major network shakeup from Spirit. At the end of September the airline 32 routes missing; many of the cuts took effect immediately.

The airline explained to TPG why it was making these changes: “We regularly evaluate our network and make adjustments to support the company’s business strategy based on current market and operating conditions. As part of this process, we have updated our upcoming schedule to focus on our most efficient routes.”

Spirit has been aggressively seeking to return to profitability in recent months, and one way for the operator to do this is to downsize its network to focus on its best-performing markets. After all, the airline has accumulated more than $2 billion in net losses since 2020.

In addition to the network shake-up, the airline also restructured its commercial strategygiving up many elements of a simple business model in exchange for fares that include extras such as bags, seats and even snacks and drinks.

It is still unknown whether these changes will solve the airline’s problems.

24 Spirit route shortcuts

Source	Destination	Effective date
Nashville	Los Angeles	November 6, 2024
Boston	Newark	January 8, 2025
Burbank, California	Sacramento	November 6, 2024
Cleveland	Orlando	November 4, 2024
Charlotte	Dallas-Fort Worth	January 8, 2025
Charlotte	Houston	December 3, 2024
Charlotte	Los Angeles	January 8, 2025
Columbus	Los Angeles	January 8, 2025
Columbus	Tampa	Effective immediately
Dallas-Fort Worth	Houston	December 3, 2024
Dallas-Fort Worth	San Antonio	November 5, 2024
Dallas-Fort Worth	Tampa	December 2, 2024
Dallas-Fort Worth	Chicago	November 6, 2024
Newark	San Antonio	November 4, 2024
Fort Lauderdale	Managua, Nicaragua	February 11, 2025
Fort Lauderdale	Phoenix	November 4, 2024
Fort Lauderdale	San Salvador, El Salvador	February 10, 2025
Las Vegas	Richmond, Virginia	November 4, 2024
Los Angeles	Oakland, California	November 6, 2024
Los Angeles	Pittsburgh	November 4, 2024
Los Angeles	San Antonio	March 3, 2025
Los Angeles	Salt Lake City	March 4, 2025
San Diego	Sacramento	December 3, 2024
San Antonio	Tampa	Effective immediately

Related reading: