Spirit’s chief commercial officer, Rana Ghosh, told employees Friday that the carrier will suspend roughly 40 routes and exit two airports as part of a previously announced 25% year-over-year capacity reduction.
In the internal note shared with AirlineGeeks, Ghosh said the ultra-low-cost carrier will end service at Hartford’s Bradley International Airport on Oct. 31 and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Dec. 1. He added that while routine schedule adjustments will continue, the airline does not anticipate additional airport exits in the near term.
“While we previously reduced our presence at these airports, these decisions were still difficult, and we are incredibly grateful for our Team Members and partners at both stations,” Ghosh added.
Its latest network shake-up comes just weeks after the airline announced plans to pull out of 11 U.S. cities, including recently launched service to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Columbia, South Carolina.
The airline’s finalized November schedule also includes suspensions of multiple seasonal and less-frequent routes as the airline shifts focus toward its strongest-performing markets, Ghosh added.
New Network Planning Chief
He also introduced Andrea Lusso as Spirit’s new vice president of network planning. Lusso began his career as a Flight Operations and Safety intern at Spirit, later held senior planning roles at JetBlue, and most recently worked as principal of supply chain and network design at Amazon Air.
Spirit filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy last month for the second time in less than a year. This week, it announced plans to furlough about 1,800 flight attendants.
