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Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy: How will it affect my Thanksgiving travel plans?

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Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy: How will it affect my Thanksgiving travel plans?

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Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Monday morning as holiday travel season approaches. Thanksgiving weekend is expected to see nearly 80 million travelers, with almost 6 million traveling by plane.

The bankruptcy filing comes after quarterly losses, failed merger attempts and looming debt maturities. Spirit’s troubles deepened after the collapse of its $3.8 billion planned merger with JetBlue Airways in January and the impact of RTX’s, Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engines snag that grounded many of its aircraft.

While Spirit Airlines does not fly out of OKC Will Rogers International Airport or Tulsa International Airport, some area travelers with connecting flights on Spirit should still be safe for Thanksgiving.

Here’s what passengers need to know as Spirit enters bankruptcy.

What happens to already booked flights? 

Most, if not all, flights should still operate as scheduled in the near term.

Robert W. Mann Jr. told USA TODAY that Thanksgiving travel is unlikely to be affected, but schedule changes and cancellations later in the winter are possible.

Mann is a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Co., an independent airline consultancy.

“It is quite possible that by the 45-day mark, which is kind of the end of the year, that we may have some other changes,” Mann said.

Mann warns that travelers with reservations should look out for notifications regarding changes to the itinerary from Spirit as their departure date approaches.

“Their best notice is going to be the notice they get from the carrier like time changes or rebooking or inability to rebook, cancellations. Then of course, they’re subject to the new (Department of Transportation) rules on how travelers should be handled, so understanding that is probably an important thing,” Mann said.

The Department of Transportation recently finalized guidelines that require airlines to provide passengers with a full refund if their flight is canceled. Passengers can receive a full refund if their flight is delayed more than three hours on a domestic flight or six hours on an international flight.

Can I transfer my Spirit loyalty miles/points to another airline?

Generally, airline loyalty points or miles are not transferrable, but Mann said frequent flyer programs are valuable assets that often survive bankruptcies.

“That is an asset, at least from the standpoint of people who might acquire them. You’re acquiring a customer base as well,” he said. “That actually could be a source of funding going forward.”

It’s also possible that Spirit will emerge from bankruptcy through a merger. Many industry watchers anticipate the incoming Trump administration will be more friendly to airlines joining forces than the Biden administration was. Under Biden, a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue was struck down, and Frontier Airlines also recently backed out of a bid to combine with its yellow ultra-low cost rival, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. These deals could be revived, or another potential buyer could step in in a different regulatory environment.

If Spirit merges with another airline, it’s likely that the frequent flyer program will be part of the package and combined with that of the other carrier.

Who keeps Spirit’s planes?

It depends.

Spirit already doesn’t own all of its planes. For the part of its fleet that’s leased, the lessor will retain possession and will be free to re-lease to Spirit or another airline, depending on what offers are on the table.

Planes that Spirit does own could be sold off to raise cash during its bankruptcy, but the airline may choose to sell other assets like gates and airport slots instead if its managers feel the planes are more likely to generate income by remaining in service.

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