Spirit Airlines has cut 37 routes across its network starting January 2023, most of the route destinations are in Florida, including eight from Tampa, seven from Fort Meyers, six from Fort Lauderdale, three from Orlando, and two from Miami. The changes will reduce Spirit's overall capacity by about 5%.
The routes connect Florida to Hartford, Connecticut; Latrobe, Pennsylvania; and Columbus, Ohio. Milwaukee, Wisconsin also lost three routes connecting it to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Tampa. International routes to Puerto Rico, Panama, Guatemala, and El Salvador also faced cuts.
Ted Christie, CEO of Spirit Airlines, said during the airline's third-quarter earnings call in October 2022: “Putting it directly, we are seeing supply chain-related issues on aircraft deliveries and on engine manufacturing and engine overhaul, which is forcing us to take aircraft out of service. We're losing active airplanes, which is the primary driver of the reduction in [capacity]."
The main reason behind route cuts is the supply chain woes and staffing shortage in Jacksonville, Florida.
Spirit also plans to add four new routes from January 2023 including two non-stop destinations to Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, Tennessee, from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Spirit is all set to join with JetBlue in a $3.8 million signed in July 2022, awaiting regulatory approval.