Ghosted by a Spirit

I wasn’t surprised by the announcement last weekend about Spirit Airlines failing. I had been preparing for it. Over the last year, I have bought several flights, trying to use the 139,000 points I had accumulated on the Free Spirit program.

Through the years, I had a love-hate relationship with Spirit Airlines. I love the low fares, but I hated every single aspect of the company and the consumer experience, and almost everyone who ever worked there.

During the pandemic, for example, I was able to fly back and forth from Richmond to Fort Lauderdale as low as $37 round-trip. I didn’t check a bag. I didn’t have a carry-on. I sat in the back of the plane. I didn’t buy any snacks. However, I did join the $9 Fare Club for only nine dollars. On the downside, Spirit Flight Attendants – war-weary veterans of sky violence – acted more like prison guards. Instead of asking me to put my tray table up, they’d reach over and slam it back into place. 

I don’t have to dissect all of the reasons why Spirit failed. You’ve already heard a dozen analysts give you their interpretations. Whatever you’ve seen or heard, I can tell you definitively it was not about high fuel prices. Spirit failed because it never fulfilled its brand promise. Spirit ghosted us. I have often said there are brands you know and love, brands you know and don’t love, and brands you’ve never heard of. Spirit was #2.

We were all familiar with the Spirit brand. It was big, bright, and yellow. It was a price brand. It was a brand we all knew and a brand we all hated. The only reason you would fly it was to save money. It was the Walmart of the skies. 

If you never flew them, let me briefly describe the Spirit experience. It started at the counter. People would walk onto a Spirit flight dressed in their pajamas or worse. Most people look like they were ready for bed and not ready for a vacation. You’ve seen the videos of the fights. I saw one in person in March of 2021, the same month people got $1,400 Covid stimulus checks. Apparently, they spent $217 on a flight to Florida.

The airline charged an extra fee for everything. Bags. A bigger seat. Snacks. Wi-Fi. Air. I’m pretty sure if they were crashing and you wanted an oxygen mask and a flotation device, they would’ve charged your Visa $39.95. (But only $29.95 if you put it on your Spirit Mastercard.) Yes, I did buy bigger seats a few times, because the normal seats were too small for my American-sized derriere. Insert 37 other jokes about Spirit here.

In the end, it’s no laughing matter. 17,000 jobs lost. Less competition means higher fares. RIC now only offers one daily non-stop to FLL, and it’s already twice the price.