Spirit Airlines bankruptcy cuts: Palmer Regional to lose Fort Lauderdale service, add Orlando flights

Passengers flying on bankrupt Spirit Airlines out of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe will lose the twice-weekly service to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in November, but will gain two fights a week to Orlando, the airport’s chief officer said.

The cutting and adding service from Arnold Palmer Regional by Spirit Airlines was announced last Friday, said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority.

The airport executive said late Tuesday he was not certain when in November the flights to Fort Lauderdale will be canceled and the additional routes to Orlando will be added.

The fact that Spirit decided to add two more trips every week to Orlando, home of the popular tourist attractions DisneyWorld and Universal Studios theme parks, “is a big deal,” Monzo said.

Spirit’s decision to continue service through October will give passengers time to make different arrangements, if needed, Monzo noted.

In addition to the changes to service to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Spirit will be discontinuing its seasonal service to Myrtle Beach, S.C., in November, but that was anticipated, Monzo said. Spirit has typically resumed flights to Myrtle Beach in the spring.

Spirit’s altering its service to the Unity airport is part of the company’s proceedings to reorganize its finances as it seeks to emerge from yet another Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company filed for bankruptcy in late August, after losing about $240 million in the second quarter and announcing in August it may cease operations if its finances do not improve.

Unlike some other airports services by Florida-based Spirit Airlines, Palmer Regional avoided losing its service entirely. The company said last week it would eliminate 40 routes, including service to 11 cities in the United States. San Diego and other West Coast locations were among the casualties of the service cuts.

Spirit remains the only commercial carrier serving the Palmer Regional Airport. Airport officials have tried, but have not been able to attract other discount carriers interested in serving Palmer Regional.

The authority has hoped that the new terminal being built at the airport will make it more attractive to other airlines.

Monzo told the airport authority in September that they still feel strong about Spirit.

“We think they’re going to do what they’ve got to do to stay in business — and, hopefully, we’re a part of it.

“We’re sticking with Spirit, and we’ll ride it until whatever happens. If they stick around, that’s a great thing. If they don’t, we’ll go elsewhere,” Monzo said.

Spirit has flown about 3.25 million passengers into and out of Palmer Regional. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019, Spirit served just under 310,000 passengers. For the first eight months of this year, Spirit has brought just over 89,000 passengers to the airport.

Spirit has been on shaky financial ground for several years. Prior to filing for bankruptcy last November, then emerging this March, Spirit had sought a $3.8 billion merger with another low-cost carrier, JetBlue, in 2023.

The Biden Administration opposed the merger on the grounds that it would hurt competition. A federal judge in Boston agreed and opposed the deal, which the airlines cancelled in March 2024.