Spirit woos fliers off couch and into coach

Spirit Airlines, set to hit the runway in May at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, will do almost anything to save a buck or hawk a ticket.

Executives take out their own trash. The company reduced the number of bathrooms on its planes to accommodate more seats. Its ticker symbol is SAVE.

Already, the penny-pinching carrier has lifted the spirits of local travelers who are thrilled with the prospect of snagging a cheap flight in a market with high fares. Spirit will begin with three flights a day from MSP to Chicago's O'Hare and one daily flight to Las Vegas. And fliers can get to several other popular destinations connecting through those cities.

"It gives more choices to fly," said Wisconsin resident Rob Kaiser, who is from the Twin Cities and has flown Spirit. "You get some of the smaller airlines in there, it forces bigger airlines to lower their fares a bit. I think it's a good addition to the airport."

Along with touting itself as an ultra-low-cost carrier, Spirit uses plucky, sometimes irreverent, ad campaigns to grab travelers' attention. When the Anthony Weiner sex scandal broke last year, Spirit launched "The Weiner Sale," which poked fun at the then-U.S. representative -- and offered fares starting at $9 each way.

The airline also had an "Eye of the Tiger" sale, featuring a tiger driving a car into a fire hydrant, evidently inspired by golfer Tiger Woods.

"It's just a way to keep our costs low," said Spirit's chief marketing officer Barry Biffle of the ads. "At the end of the day, if a celebrity does something silly and we can make fun of it, people will forward it around to their friends. We get more customers for free."

"You cannot go on Spirit and have expectations, because you'll be disappointed," said Bob Herbst, founder of AirlineFinancials.com.

As recently as the third quarter of 2011, 31 percent of Spirit's operating revenue was from fees, more than any other U.S. carrier, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. The next highest was AirTran, at 13 percent. Spirit charges up to $40 for passengers to stow a bag in the overhead bin and $1 to $15 for beverages on flights. With taxes and fees, a $9 promotional fare would end up near $30.

Biffle said the Miramar, Fla.-based carrier is proud of its pricing strategy because it makes air travel more accessible to people who usually can't afford to fly. "The bottom line is we only charge you what we need to charge to get you from point A and B safely and reliably," Biffle said, adding that Spirit's packed planes allow it to be one of the most fuel-efficient airlines.

Spirit expects to grow its fleet by 15 to 20 percent a year. The airline has been targeting big markets with traditional air carriers, with the hopes of converting travelers to Spirit or getting new customers who typically don't fly, analysts said.

"Their big competitor is the couch, people who sit at home," said Bob McAdoo, an analyst at Avondale Partners.

Spirit likely chose routes to Chicago and Las Vegas because they are among the top five nonstop destinations out of MSP, said Brian Peters, assistant director of Air Service Business Development for the Airports Commission.

"This is probably a way for them to introduce themselves to MSP," Peters said. "They are hard-to-miss markets for them. Even if they scrape a little bit of the cream of the traffic, they should get enough business to be successful."

Spirit's four largest bases are Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.

Airport officials have long tried to reduce fares out of MSP, where Delta Air Lines is the largest carrier. Peters said he believes Spirit's entry will lower competitors' fares to Las Vegas, Chicago and some destinations that require connections.

For example, when discount carrier Southwest Airlines entered MSP in 2009, it helped reduce nonstop round-trip fares to Chicago from the low $400 range to the high $100 range, according to FareCompare.com.

"I've had senior officers at some of the competitive airlines say their product is so different and they have so few flights that it's not worth changing who we are to chase them," Avondale's McAdoo said.

Delta and Southwest Airlines don't seem concerned about Spirit's presence at MSP.

"We compete with low-cost carriers in markets across the U.S. and have for many years," said Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter.

Kaiser, the Wisconsin resident, said he has enjoyed flying Spirit. He said he paid $350 for a round-trip flight from Chicago to Fort Myers, Fla., during the holidays, half the price of competing airlines. Kaiser said his family put their items into small bags that fit in the seat in front of them, avoiding Spirit's carry-on fee for using overhead bins. He paid for one checked bag.