Spirit Airlines will end service to 11 cities in October as it begins the hard work of overhauling its route map in bankruptcy.

The Dania Beach, Fla.-based airline will end service to the following cities during the week of Oct. 2, 2025, a spokesperson confirmed:

• Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) in New Mexico
• Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) in Alabama
• Boise Airport (BOI)
• Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) in Tennessee
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) in South Carolina
• Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK)
• Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
• Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
• San Diego International Airport (SAN)
• San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in California

Spirit also suspended plans to add Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN) in Macon, Georgia, to its map on Oct. 16.

The cuts come days after Spirit filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in less than a year. The airline plans to shed planes, shrink its network and cut costs in the hopes of returning to profitability.

“Spirit is redesigning its network to focus its flying on key markets to provide more destinations, frequencies and enhanced connectivity in certain of its focus cities, while simultaneously reducing its presence in certain other cities,” Fred Cromer, chief financial officer of Spirit, said in a statement filed with the court on Sunday.

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Robert Milton, chairman of Spirit’s board of directors, told The Wall Street Journal that the carrier plans to refocus its map on key airports, including Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and Orlando International Airport (MCO).

The 12 airports cut from Spirit’s map in October represent 3.9% of the airline’s total seats that month, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) will lose the most routes with the cuts, saying goodbye to eight nonstops, schedules show. FLL will lose four routes.

Many industry analysts expect further cuts at Spirit as it “significantly,” as Cromer put it, shrinks its fleet.

The airline operated 214 Airbus A320-family aircraft when it filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 28. However, only around 157 planes are in service, Cromer said.

Passengers booked on a canceled flight would be entitled to a refund under U.S. Department of Transportation policy.

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Shortly before it filed for bankruptcy in November 2024, Spirit Airlines  (SAVE)  announced that it would put 330 of its pilots on furlough.

It had already furloughed 130 pilots a month earlier, while also downgrading 120 of its captains to first officers. 

At the time it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Spirit had accumulated over $3.8 billion in debt as earlier plans for acquisitions with JetBlue  (JBLU)  and Frontier Airways  (FRON)  had fallen through.

While Spirit emerged from bankruptcy by the spring by restructuring $795 million in funded debt and securing $350 million in fresh equity from investors, questions remain about how the carrier will find a profitable way forward.

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Spirit Airlines ‘taking necessary steps to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible’

As first reported by Bloomberg, Spirit Airlines confirmed that it will make a third round of pilot furloughs by placing 270 pilots on leave by Nov. 1. An additional 140 pilots will be downgraded from captain to first officer by Oct. 1.

Spirit confirmed the cuts as being necessary “to better align staffing with our flight schedule.” For the second quarter of 2025, Spirit reported revenue of $1.3 billion, which is a 11% drop from the previous year. The adjusted net loss was $158 million.

“We are taking necessary steps to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible as part of our efforts to return to profitability,” the airline said in a further statement. The last time the airline reported a profitable quarter was in 2019, and it has faced increased pressure to do so post-bankruptcy.

Related: Spirit Airlines to launch its shortest flight yet

After emerging from bankruptcy, Spirit made additional changes like scrapping its base fare structure and replacing it with tiers in which customers pay for more perks. The four classes begin with a basic “Go” fare without a single carry-on, while the “Go Big” fare includes a carry-on item and checked bag, an assigned seat with extra legroom at the front of the plane, priority boarding, and extras such as snacks and free in-flight Wi-Fi.

In announcing the pilot furloughs, Spirit said that it is also preparing to restructure certain routes — namely, cut flights — to scrap ones that are not bringing in profit. The carrier has already cut approximately one million seats on different routes between May and June 2025.

‘Spirit continues to shrink’: Captain and union leader on new round of furloughs

The news predictably sent shockwaves through the employees affected as, after each round of previous cuts, Spirit had expressed hopes that no further ones would be made.

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“We know how hard this news hits, and there’s no dressing that up,” Ryan Muller, a captain who chairs the Spirit chapter of the ALPA pilot’s union, said in statement on behalf of the union’s members. “Spirit continues to shrink, and with it, the value of pilot seniority and Spirit careers continues to erode.”

In regard to the affected employees, Spirit issued an additional statement saying that it “recognize[s] the weight of this decision and are committed to treating all affected Team Members with compassion and respect during this process.”

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