American, Delta, United, Southwest

Money Moves

As of May 2026: Now control roughly 80% of US domestic flights

Roughly 1.8 million Spirit Airlines passengers woke up on May 2, 2026 to find their tickets worthless. At 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the eighth-largest US carrier shut down for good, told customers to stay home from the airport, and laid off about 17,000 employees and contractors. The trigger was a creditor group that walked away from a $500 million rescue package the Trump administration had been brokering.

Updated May 31