Spirit Airlines cuts 5 cities, increasing bankruptcy exits to 18 destinations

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Spirit Airlines will exit five cities in January, the latest cuts from the bankrupt carrier.

The Dania Beach, Florida-based discounter will end service to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) in New York and St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) on Jan. 8, 2026, a Spirit spokesperson confirmed to TPG.

Spirit will also end seasonal service to Palonegro International Airport (BGA) near Bucaramanga, Colombia, on Jan. 18, 2026.

Combined, Spirit will end nine routes serving the five airports and reduce its schedule by roughly 1% of seats, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

Spirit CEO Dave Davis told staff on Tuesday in a memo viewed by TPG that the cuts were to "better align with our smaller fleet and focus on our strongest performing markets."

With this batch of cities, Spirit has now cut flights to 18 destinations since filing for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a year in August. The cuts range from smaller locales like Chattanooga, Tennessee, to larger cities like Minneapolis. It has also sought court approval to return more than half of its fleet of Airbus A320-family planes to leasing companies.

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In October, Spirit warned investors that additional schedule cuts were coming in 2026, equal to a roughly 20% reduction from this year.

The airline has said it will focus flying on several core markets — including Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) — and, as part of its restructuring, plans to shift its no-frills brand upmarket to cater to a "value-seeking audience." At the same time, it is in talks with possible merger partners.

Spirit was blocked from merging with JetBlue Airways in 2024, and rejected an offer from Frontier Airlines earlier this year.

JetBlue, in response to Spirit's struggles, is growing at FLL. The airline is adding new routes and flights from the airport in what Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, has called a "pretty big bet" on the market.

Below are details of the nine routes Spirit will end in January, Cirium schedule data shows:

• BGA-FLL (no other air service)
• MKE-DTW (served by Delta Air Lines)
• MKE-Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) (served by Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines)
• MKE-MCO (served by Frontier, Southwest and Sun Country)
• PHX-DTW (served by American Airlines, Delta, Frontier and Southwest)
• PHX-FLL (served by American, JetBlue and Southwest)
• ROC-MCO (served by Southwest)
• ROC-FLL (no other air service)
• STL-FLL (served by Southwest)