Spirit Airways cuts 32 routes in newest community shake-up

Spirit Airlines is making more big changes to its network.

The Dania Beach, Florida-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to exit a whopping 32 routes, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.

The full list of affected routes is available below, but highlights include seven flights being cut from Boston, one of the hardest-hit airports on this list.

From Boston, Spirit will cease flying to Charleston, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Chicago; Nashville; Pittsburgh; and Norfolk, Virginia. It’s interesting to see Spirit exit so many routes from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), which has been in the news recently for renewed competition among incumbent airlines.

Delta Air Lines and JetBlue are fighting neck and neck for dominance in Boston, and the two airlines have been adding new routes and boosting their presence to win the local market. Perhaps there’s already so much competition between the incumbents that Spirit could no longer make these routes work.

The airline is also exiting some high-profile routes with lots of competition, such as Atlanta to Chicago and Charlotte to Chicago.

Spirit’s cuts have already been updated in the airline’s timetables, and affected customers will be eligible for a full refund or rerouting onto other Spirit flights.

Notably, some of the affected routes had already been pared back in recent months, but as part of this update, Spirit will cease flying them entirely. In total, Spirit is reducing capacity in November and December by about 15% and 17% week over week, respectively, according to Cirum schedules.

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“We routinely 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 updated our upcoming schedule to focus on our strongest-performing routes,” a Spirit Airlines spokesperson told TPG.

In recent months, Spirit has been aggressive about making changes to its network in an effort to return to profitability. The airline has accumulated over $2 billion in net losses since 2020, so there’s no doubt that Spirit is doing what it can to return to profitability.

Earlier this year, the airline temporarily scrapped all international flights from Houston due to weak demand. Furthermore, in May, Spirit added a rare, new shuttle route from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). This 247-mile route is already blanketed with service, but Spirit is likely hoping it will help unlock new connecting itineraries for its customers.

Adding new connecting options has been high on Spirit’s priority list for this year. The airline has been focused on scaling back growth in Florida and adding new flights, such as the Dallas-to-Houston route, that should appeal to both origin and destination traffic, as well as connecting flyers.

The airline has also restructured its commercial strategy, abandoning many elements of the bare-bones business model in exchange for fares that include ancillaries such as bags, seats and even snacks and drinks.