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Spirit Airlines Tried to Change. Here’s Why It Didn’t Work

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a yellow airplane on a tarmac

You can love Spirit Airlines or loathe it — but for years, you at least knew what you were getting. Bare-bones flights, ultra-low fares, and plenty of surprise fees if you didn’t read the fine print. But Spirit hasn’t been that airline for a while. And their attempt to evolve into something new hasn’t exactly taken off.

Now, with plummeting stock prices, aircraft groundings, a failed merger with JetBlue, and a second bankruptcy filing in less than a year, Spirit is struggling more than most — and it’s not just about money. It’s about identity.

What Happened to the Low-Cost Airline Business Model?

Spirit Airlines once thrived under the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) model. So did Frontier, Allegiant, and to some degree, even Southwest. The model was simple: sell ultra-cheap base fares, charge extra for everything else, and keep costs low by using one aircraft type, quick turnarounds, and high utilization. For a while, it worked brilliantly — especially with a steady flow of price-sensitive leisure travelers.

But over the past few years, cracks in that model became chasms:

A video breakdown from 2024 explains how low-cost carriers are particularly vulnerable when even one part of their system breaks down. Every delay, cancellation, or grounded plane has ripple effects — and ULCCs don’t have enough slack in their systems to absorb them.

 

If All the Budget Airlines Are Struggling, Why Is Spirit in Worse Shape?

Spirit’s competitors aren’t exactly thriving either — Frontier is retrenching, and JetBlue just walked away from a failed merger. But Spirit’s situation is uniquely precarious.

Put simply: Spirit is stuck. They’ve raised prices and tried to improve service, but they haven’t convinced travelers that they’re offering anything better.

Spirit Tried to Adapt — But the Strategy Didn’t Land

To stay competitive, Spirit attempted to evolve. They introduced bundled fares, emphasized operational reliability, and even marketed their “Big Front Seat” as a budget business-class alternative. They improved their mobile app and tried to remove some of the surprise-fee stigma.

But all of this left Spirit in a strange in-between zone:

Trying to imitate the big guys doesn’t always work — especially if your entire brand is built around not being them.

JetBlue, Southwest, and Frontier are all learning this the hard way. But unlike Spirit, those airlines started with reputations that allowed some flexibility. Spirit, on the other hand, came into this transition with a reputation it just couldn’t shake.

We’ve Flown Spirit — And That Might Be the Problem

We’ve flown Spirit several times in the last few years, and you know what? It was fine. Flights were on time. The planes were newer than expected. Gate agents were polite. The Big Front Seat was actually pretty comfortable. We got what we paid for — and maybe a bit more.

But here’s the thing: “fine” isn’t a compelling reason to fly an airline. “Fine” doesn’t build loyalty. And when the price isn’t dramatically lower than Southwest, JetBlue, or even Delta Basic Economy, why would anyone choose Spirit?

They’ve lost their edge — and they haven’t built a new one.

From Pride to Punchline — Spirit’s Identity Problem

Spirit once had an identity that meant something — even if that something was polarizing. They were the scrappy underdog. The no-frills option. The airline people loved to hate — but also loved to beat. Booking Spirit felt like a challenge, almost a game. The savvy traveler could brag about flying cross-country for $11, with no bag fees, no seat assignment fees, and no regrets.

There was even a kind of pride in being a Spirit passenger. You knew the rules. You packed light. You brought snacks. You didn’t expect a single ounce of luxury — but you got to your destination for less than the price of an Uber to the airport. For a while, that identity worked. Spirit didn’t need to be liked — it just needed to be understood.

But somewhere along the way, the lines got blurred.

In the minds of many travelers, Spirit is still the airline of cramped seats, angry passengers, and nickel-and-dime fees. The name conjures up images of bright yellow planes, TikTok rants, and social media memes mocking the in-flight experience. Even when Spirit tries to be something else — more reliable, more premium, more customer-friendly — the public still sees the same old punchline.

Worse still, Spirit no longer owns its niche. Frontier is often cheaper. Southwest had the lovable underdog brand (that’s a whole different problem for that airline). JetBlue offers a budget-friendly experience without the baggage (literal or figurative). Even Delta’s Basic Economy has eaten into the market of price-sensitive but quality-conscious travelers.

Spirit tried to raise its standards — but it didn’t raise its reputation. And that’s where the model broke. Customers are willing to tolerate a bad experience if they feel they’re getting a bargain. They’ll forgive quirks if the price is right. But Spirit today is often neither the cheapest nor the best value — just the airline with the worst reputation.

In the 2025 Axios/Harris Poll, Spirit ranked dead last in reputation among high-profile companies. Yes — worse than Facebook. Worse than X (formerly Twitter). Even worse than the Trump Organization. That’s not just a PR problem — it’s a brand crisis.

And that’s the core of the problem: you can swap engines, offer fare bundles, or even improve on-time performance — but if your passengers still think you’re the worst airline in the sky, you’ve already lost the battle for their trust.

Final Thought

Spirit Airlines didn’t fail because it was cheap. It’s failing because it stopped being cheap — without becoming anything else. For years, its brand was clear, even if it wasn’t aspirational. But now, Spirit finds itself in the worst possible place: no longer a bargain, no longer fun to beat, and still widely seen as the airline you fly only when you have no other choice.

The airline has tried to improve — modernizing its fleet, bundling fares, marketing a better in-flight experience — but those efforts haven’t moved the needle on how the public sees them. Even if passengers notice the upgrades, the brand perception still lags miles behind. And in aviation, perception can matter as much as performance.

To make matters worse, Spirit is running out of time — and money. The airline filed for bankruptcy for the second time in under a year, burdened by grounded aircraft, engine issues, failed merger costs, and mounting losses. This isn’t just a reputational problem anymore. It’s existential.

If Spirit can’t redefine its identity — and convince travelers that it’s offering a better value, not just a slightly less-bad experience — then improving the product won’t be enough. Because once the public sees you as a punchline, it takes more than a fare sale or a shiny new jet to change their minds.

For Spirit, the clock is ticking.

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