As it weathers its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in a year and scales back routes nationally, Spirit Airlines had already ceased to be a major player for Minneapolis-St. Paul passengers.
We can remember the days (like, 2018) when the big yellow ultra-low-cost pioneer flew to a half-dozen U.S. destinations from MSP’s Terminal 1, serving more a million MSP passengers a year. But today, Spirit flies to only two cities from MSP: Atlanta and Detroit, which are also Delta Air Lines hubs.
Spirit, along with Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines, does routinely undercut Delta’s fares on both routes. For a Thanksgiving week trip to the Motor City, the best fare we found was $139 on Spirit, vs. $269 on Delta.
The much-maligned Spirit can actually provide a great value and reliable performance for travelers who want basic fares and don’t necessarily need add-on perks such as seat selection and carry-on bags. In fact, Spirit basically created the ultra-low-cost (ULC) model, becoming the first airline to charge for all checked bags in 2007.
But the legacy airlines (Delta, American and United) successfully fought back against Spirit’s strategy with their own cheap fares, in the form of Basic Economy tickets (or in the case of Delta’s new rebranding, Delta Main Basic). Spirit says it will continue on, but has dropped routes, including all service to 11 cities. Airlines such as United and Frontier are reportedly moving in to attempt to take over Spirit’s shrinking route map.
Still seeking bargain-basement fares without the extras? Sun Country picks up the slack with dozens of year-round and seasonal destinations from MSP. It’s followed by Frontier, with three capital-D destinations from here: Detroit, Dallas and Denver.
