Spirit Airlines Set To Cut All Denver Flying From Early Next Year

Spirit Airlines is giving Coloradans a big lump of coal for the winter holidays: It will leave Denver International Airport in early January.

“We’re forced to make some tough choices,” Spirit spokesperson Thomas Fletcher said in an emailed statement to the Denver Post last week. “After considering those constraints and the underperformance of our routes through Denver International Airport (DEN), we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue service at the airport, effective January 9, 2024.”

Here’s what you should know about this unfortunate news for Denver flyers.

Spirit Withdraws From Denver

Spirit Airlines‘ share of passenger traffic in Denver (DEN) — one of the country’s busiest airports — fell from 2.1% in 2019 to a paltry 0.8% in 2023, according to the airport. The airline has operated flights from Denver since May 2012.

The beleaguered low-cost carrier has seen its shares plummet by nearly 40% from a high this summer, with reported losses of nearly $160 million in the third quarter of 2023. Last year, the airline was the prize in a bidding war, with JetBlue beating out Frontier Airlines and walking away with the promise of a $3.8 billion merger with Spirit. But that has been thwarted by a Justice Department suit that argues that a JetBlue takeover of Spirit would be unfair to customers. That antitrust trial is still ongoing.

In his statement, Fletcher also cast blame on problems with the availability of Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine, which is used on the Airbus A320neo, among other planes. Spirit was forced to ground 7 of its A320neos in August so they could be inspected for possible microfractures in the engines.

Denver Airport spokesperson Stephanie Figueroa said that Spirit operates a single gate in Concourse C for 3 routes. Those include flights to Las Vegas (LAS), Miami (MIA), and Fort Lauderdale (FLL). The city of Denver will regain control of the gate once Spirit leaves.

The airline said it will offer refunds to those who booked flights that are scheduled for after January 9, 2024.

While Spirit is pulling out of Denver, other airlines have been beefing up their presence at the Colorado airport. United Airlines operates, according to some measures, its busiest hub from the airport, while Southwest Airlines and Spirit’s primary low-cost competitor Frontier Airlines all offer dozens of routes from the city, seemingly without issue.

Final Thoughts

The bad news continues to pile up for Spirit Airlines, and now, the airline is set to withdraw completely from one of the nation’s busiest airports. If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit to or from Denver, make sure to keep an eye out for communication from the airline if you qualify for a refund.