How's it going America,
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Let's get into it:
Low-cost Spirit Airlines has come to an end after 34 years, leaving flyers stranded. The now-defunct airline said it would refund passengers for canceled flights, but that leaves many passengers now having to pay much more for tickets on other airlines.
For sure, the cost of jet fuel was a thing for Spirit and has been a factor in the higher fares charged by other airlines. But Spirit has been in trouble for a while. In 2023, under the Biden administration, JetBlue sought to buy Spirit, but the administration, including then-Transit Sec Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren put a stop to that.
They said at the time that the sale would deprive Americans of Spirit Airlines' low cost flights. Now, of course, they have been deprived of those for good. It's possible that a merger of that kind would have doomed both airlines, but we'll never know.
My first thought was how scary it would be to wake up in some hotel somewhere far from home, knowing that you're supposed to check out in a few hours, and having no way to get home because your flight was canceled. There's not much you can do at that point except try to find another flight, but if you're a budget traveler taking a budget trip and have maxed out your credit cards to do it, you're really going to be in a pickle.
There was also an incident at Newark Airport where a jumbo jet coming in for a landing swiped a lamp post as well as a truck, so that's not great. It's at the point now where when I see planes I expect them to start falling out of the sky. I have a few trips planned for this summer, but they're all within a 10 hour drive, so my little SUV and I will be packing on some miles.
Libby