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Today, Explained

RIP Spirit Airlines

5/5/202626 min

Lessons from the life and death of America’s most beloved, most hated, most bootleg airline. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Bridger Dunnagan, and hosted by Noel King. Spirit Airlines planes parked on the tarmac in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clips

End Of Budget Airlines?
War’s Hidden Airline Impact
Blocked Merger, Doomed Trajectory
Cheap Money, Costly Collapse
Big Airlines Copied Spirit
Why A Spirit Bailout Fails
Trump’s Motive For Rescue Talk

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Noel King· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] Spirit Airlines had many detractors.

  2. Speaker 10:04

    They're the hidden fees airline. They're the number one in complaints. Like, they literally just left people stranded.

  3. Speaker 20:11

    Suck it on your extra fees.

  4. Noel King· Host0:14

    Spirit also had many defenders.

  5. Jon Ostrower· Guest0:16

    Spirit Airlines doesn't have customer service.

  6. Speaker 40:18

    You don't pay for customer service.

  7. Speaker 10:20

    [laughs] [laughs] Spirit always got me to where I needed to be. I give them their gas money, and they drop me off in Cabo.

  8. Noel King· Host0:27

    And then over the weekend, it shut down, stranding passengers.

  9. Speaker 50:32

    I just woke up to a text message that Spirit has literally shut down, so now I have to figure out a way to get home.

  10. Speaker 60:38

    I hope the people who have created this inconvenience for people like myself, they should ask God for forgiveness.

  11. Noel King· Host0:45

    Breaking pilots' hearts mid-flight.

  12. Speaker 70:47

    I don't remember any of the bad times, just the good ones.

  13. Noel King· Host0:50

    Coming up on Today Explained from Fox, lessons from the life and death of America's most beloved, most hated, most bootleg budget airline.

  14. Speaker 80:58

    [upbeat music] Sometimes good business is about the things you don't do, like not paying annual fees, not wasting time on reimbursements, and not leaving rewards on the table. With Engine X, get more for doing less. It's the business card that gets you up to 10% back on travel and 1.5% back on everything else. Engine X, going up. Engine is a financial technology company, not a bank. The Engine X Visa commercial card is issued by Fifth Third Bank N.A., member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Terms

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