Spirit shutdown leaves many frequent flyers scrambling for options

[0:00] I've literally pretty much only flown Spirit for my five years that I've been 21 and traveling on my own. [0:06] It's been a perfect budget airline for me. [0:07] When Brendan Seachuk needed to fly, he always booked a seat on his favorite airline, Spirit. [0:13] As a content creator, we're traveling all the time. [0:16] And part of those traveling were to go to the hotspot destinations like Fort Lauderdale or LAX. [0:23] And Spirit always had those direct flights. [0:26] Now that's all changed. [0:28] While Spirit, it's no longer howdy, but so long, partner. [0:33] When Spirit Airlines ceased operation Saturday, it sent shockwaves. [0:37] The fact that it actually did for good this time, and knowing that all my points and all my loyalty to the airline that I've wanted to work with for so long, or no longer. [0:47] And I was just more shocked than anything. [0:50] We're currently at the Fort Lauderdale airport. [0:52] It's currently May 1st. [0:54] And as of May 2nd, Spirit is going to be shutting down at 3 in the morning. [0:58] The travel content creator flew one of the last Spirit Airlines flights to land in Detroit. [1:03] My flight 1544 from Fort Lauderdale touched down in Detroit at 12.04 a.m. this morning. [1:09] On behalf of this cabin crew, it has been a pleasure having you on board this evening's flight. [1:13] And we hope to welcome you back again soon. [1:15] Brendan is one of thousands of budget-conscious travelers out of luck, left scrambling. [1:22] We did not have any money. [1:24] We had to pay $1,600 for the flight for today. [1:30] But we had to call someone to help us because we couldn't afford it. [1:34] Spirit Airlines has been a huge part of my travel lifestyle. [1:37] A budget traveler like me depends on this airline. [1:41] As jet fuel shortages continue because of the Iran war, prices soaring. [1:46] We're seeing increased ticket prices across the board. [1:49] All the airlines are also raising their baggage fees. [1:52] So the consumers is really getting hit hard right now. [1:55] Even major carriers feeling the pinch. [1:58] Delta eliminating snacks on some shorter flights. [2:01] Carriers from Turkish Airlines to Lufthansa and United canceling thousands of flights, eliminating millions of seats. [2:09] Creating a ripple effect across global air travel with summer around the corner. [2:13] Experts have warned that parts of Europe and Asia are at severe risk of running low on jet fuel. [2:19] Much of their jet fuel comes through the Strait of Hormuz. [2:22] So the longer that is blocked, the more at risk Europe and Asia is to running low on jet fuel. [2:29] And that could come in the next couple of weeks. [2:31] The remaining low-cost carriers like Avello, Frontier and Allegiant already feeling the pressure. [2:37] Asking the Trump administration for a relief package of $2.5 billion. [2:42] If prices continue to remain elevated at the levels they are, [2:46] the smaller budget carriers could face major problems in the coming months or years if things don't regulate themselves. [2:54] Andrew Levy is the CEO of Avello Airlines. [2:57] A budget carrier that serves smaller airports like New Haven, Connecticut and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. [3:03] Highlighted on their TikTok. [3:04] What we're asking for is a little bit of help from the government to recognize that what we do has a huge consumer benefit to the United States. [3:11] It's a request Transportation Secretary deemed not necessary. [3:15] We've already seen some of the other low-cost carriers come into markets where Spirit left. [3:20] Budget carriers have things like fares as low as $39 one way, $49, $59. [3:27] You can still find that sometimes. [3:29] It's just a little bit harder to find. [3:32] Spirit Airlines' folding means more than 1,300 crew members and 17,000 Spirit employees left without a job. [3:40] We had the carpet pull out from underneath our feet and we don't know what to do. [3:45] Flight attendant Antonio Manceno was on his 11th year on the job with the airline. [3:50] When he found out there was no Spirit flight to get him home, he drove the 1,000 miles from Florida back to New Jersey. [3:56] It's like losing a family member, but it's like losing all of them at once because Spirit was my family. [4:06] It was my second family. [4:07] Antonio is the father of nine-year-old Isabella, who was born with a rare seizure disorder and had two brain surgeries by the time she was a toddler. [4:15] We made the decision to, you know, build a life for our daughter on travel. [4:19] Our first trip to Hawaii, she wasn't even one yet. [4:22] I just want to let her live this happy life with not really a care. [4:27] I just, you know, provide a life that, you know, she deserves. [4:31] She can't put her hands on me. [4:33] But Spirit Airlines was not without its faults. [4:37] They provided rock-bottom fares. [4:39] They got you where you wanted to go and they did it at an affordable rate. [4:43] But it had its problems. [4:45] We often saw fights on Spirit planes or fights at the gates. [4:51] Still, it had an impeccable safety record. [4:54] In all of the years that Spirit was in operation, they never had a plane crash. [4:59] Spirit was a massive employer and played a massive role in the aviation system to make travel accessible to everyday Americans. [5:08] And that is taking a major hit here, too. [5:10] I'm not really upset about the points being lost. [5:13] I'm more upset for all the 18,000 flight attendants and pilots that are without a job. [5:20] We're boarding our first flight for Operation Spirit in the sky. [5:23] Now, Brendan C. Chuck is currently on time. [5:26] He's on a whirlwind quest to find the next best budget airline. [5:30] We're about to depart for Nashville. [5:33] The flights in order that I took were Allegiant, Southwest, Avello, Breeze, Delta, JetBlue, Frontier, and then finally Southwest back to Michigan. [5:43] He's crisscrossing the country, documenting his journey for his YouTube channel. [5:47] I decided to book nine different flights in the span of four days. [5:52] In 20B, we got an IOC. [5:55] I also wanted to create a video that allows people to have a better understanding when they go to book their flight on what airlines they could be expecting to have certain benefits from. [6:05] Anything from the amenities and the in-flight services, the different foods that they serve, the different luxuries of comfort on their flights. [6:13] We still have plenty of time to make it to our gate. [6:15] I just want everybody to have different budget alternatives because it's not all bad that Spirit has gone. [6:20] You know, it's going to drive up competition for all these airlines, so they better be on their game. [6:25] So on which airline will Brendan become a frequent flyer? [6:29] The answer is still up in the air. [6:31] Walking through the terminals right now, Frontier, JetBlue. [6:35] We're going to have to see. [6:36] I genuinely want to give every budget airline an opportunity to show what they have to offer because they're going to have to live up to some standards that I was able to get through Spirit.