'Godspeed my friend': Inside the final hours of Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines ceased operations early Saturday, grounding all flights and shutting down customer services. The airline's final message honored its 34 years of service, while major carriers stepped in to assist stranded passengers. A retiring Spirit captain was honored with a surprise water cannon salute upon his return to Baltimore aboard a Southwest flight.
- ▪Spirit Airlines stopped all operations before dawn on Saturday, with its website and app announcing the end of service.
- ▪LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal, once home to Pan Am and later Spirit, fell silent with no departing flights.
- ▪United Airlines booked around 14,000 former Spirit passengers, while Southwest took in over 20,000 on the first day.
- ▪JetBlue announced expanded service from Fort Lauderdale to destinations including Cali, Colombia, and Nashville, Tennessee.
- ▪A retiring Spirit captain, Jon Jackson, was honored with a water cannon salute by Southwest crew upon landing in Baltimore.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Before dawn on Saturday, Spirit's website and app were papered over with the message that operations had ended. "To our Guests: all flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available," it read.By noon, LaGuardia's Marine Air Terminal, an Art Deco facility that opened in 1940 and was home to Pan Am's Clippers — and, most recently, home to Spirit at the New York airport — was nearly silent.Cibo Express closed half a day early with no customers to serve. CNBC saw the last Transportation Security Administration officer who was sent home early.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at US Top News and Analysis.
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