Spirit Airlines’ shutdown is sending Philadelphia and Atlantic City travelers scrambling for alternatives

The sudden shutdown of Spirit Airlines early Saturday reverberated across the Philadelphia area and the Jersey Shore, leaving travelers wondering what’s next.

The Spirit check-in kiosks at Philadelphia International Airport displayed green lights Saturday morning, but no one was staffing the shuttered airline’s counter, and a sign warned travelers that the airline is no longer operating.

» READ MORE: Spirit Airlines says it’s going out of business after 34 years, ends operations immediately

A woman named Melissa, who was booked on Spirit’s 6:12 p.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., drove to PHL as soon as she heard about the shutdown.

After 20 minutes trying to rebook with a different airline, she said, she felt helpless and defeated, and left the airport with her situation unresolved. She declined to give her last name because she said she was concerned about jeopardizing her potential refund.

“I don’t think we are going anymore,” Melissa said. “My kids are still crying; I’m trying to stop.”

Spirit is not able to help rebook those flights, according to its website. Instead, the company is directing passengers not to go to the airport and promising automatic refunds for any flights purchased through Spirit with a credit or debit card.

For flights booked through a travel agent, the company recommends contacting the agency directly to request a refund. Passengers who booked through a voucher, credit, or Free Spirit points will have to wait for the bankruptcy court process.

The airline said on its website that all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available.

Spirit’s shutdown was expected after Friday came and went without a government bailout for the cash-strapped business.

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover to keep it from going under, but that no deal was reached.

While Spirit’s shutdown is leaving some Philadelphia travelers scrambling for alternatives, its loss may be felt more sharply at Atlantic City International Airport, where it served nearly 99% percent of commercial passengers. It started serving Atlantic City in 1992, the year its predecessor company, Charter One, rebranded as Spirit Airlines.

Spirit had seen a decrease in scheduled flights from Atlantic City in recent years and announced in 2024 that it would close its crew base there but continue serving the airport.

The Mittleman family of Ventnor was crushed by Spirit’s shutdown, joking they would wear yellow Saturday in honor of the fallen airline.

Over the years, Max Mittleman made the 12-minute trip from home to the Atlantic City airport for Spirit flights hundreds of times — to college at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, for trips to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and, later, with his wife, Laura, to her parents’ place in Florida.

Even now, with two small kids, Max and Laura Mittleman hopped on Spirit flights frequently, typically once a month from November through April.

“We had a pretty good system there — knowing where to sit, knowing where to put the car seat,” Max Mittleman said.

Maverick Mittleman, 2, has a toy Spirit airplane he likes to play with. His father said he is unsure whether the family should bury it in the backyard or keep it as a collector’s item.

Mittleman worries more about the future of the Atlantic City airport, and the Transportation Security Administration workers and other staffers who supported it, than whether he will get a refund for a flight to Florida the family had booked for the fall.

“I just feel bad for TSA and all the employees at the airport,” Mittleman said. “I don’t want it to become a haunted airport.”

Brian Reed had been scheduled to fly from Atlantic City for Fort Myers, Fla., early Sunday, using 250,000 Free Spirit points for three tickets.

Instead, he saw his favorite airline route shut down and paid $1,600 to rebook Saturday, using Frontier Airlines from Philadelphia.

“It’s devastating,” Reed, 53, said in an interview after arriving in Florida. “I’m thinking about selling my house in Florida because we are not going to be able to fly out of Atlantic City when we want to.”

For the Reeds, the shutdown not only alters one family vacation; it alters their way of life, as they took 10 Atlantic City-to-Fort Myers Spirit flights a year.

“Spirit meant convenience, especially for my daughter, who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair,” Reed said.

Now the family will have to travel an additional 45 minutes to Philadelphia, pay more for tickets to fly to Florida, and miss the airline personnel they had become acquainted with.

“We are hoping another airline takes over,” Reed said.

“But we built a lot of relationships with flight attendants, agents, and personnel; I feel bad for them,” added Reed, lamenting he will no longer be able to bring them sweet treats to thank them for their work.

Spirit was a major carrier in both North and South Jersey, with a major operating base at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), which represents several hundred Spirit workers, called the news “devastating” in a statement Saturday.

“Our members on the ramp did not cause this failure; corporate mismanagement and poor financial stewardship did,” the IAM statement reads. “Our members deserve answers and support.”

The union is activating an assistance program for its members to navigate the transition. And it called on Spirit leadership and the bankruptcy courts “to ensure that every worker receives the full severance, back pay, and benefits they are owed. Workers should not be the last in line when a company fails.”

» READ MORE: Spirit Airlines: What we know so far and how Philadelphia could be affected

Last year, Spirit cut routes, including a couple out of PHL, because of its financial struggles.

From Philadelphia, the airline eliminated service to Atlanta and Los Angeles. Spirit had 1,500 fewer flights through Philadelphia in 2025 compared with 2024. It was among the top five most flown airlines out of PHL in 2024, bringing more than 1.7 million passengers through Philadelphia, but it dropped off that list last year.

Between three and seven Spirit Airlines flights departed the Philadelphia airport each day, according to airport spokesperson Heather Redfern.

The flights went to Charlotte, N.C., Detroit, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, all destinations that are served by other carriers, Redfern added.

Staff writers Amy S. Rosenberg and Emily Bloch contributed to this article, which contains information from the Associated Press.