The airline sector is currently navigating a distinct performance gap as the slump in Spirit Airlines (FLYYQ) shares sparked by the company’s Saturday announcement of an immediate, orderly wind-down prompts a wider industry reassessment within the Quant rating framework.
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Passengers have been left unaware as to where their luggage is [file image](Image: Getty Images)
Passengers have been left stuck without their bags after the closure of a major airline.
One of America’s largest low-budget carriers, Spirit Airlines, announced its closure “effective immediately”.
The airline said in a statement: “All Spirit flights have been cancelled and Spirit guests should not go to the airport.”
As a result, customers could not get connecting flights and have been left stranded at airports across the country, with some passengers unsure where there bags are located.
On Sunday, a day after the airline closed, some passengers are still waiting at the airport for their luggage.
One passenger explained they ‘don’t know what to do’ as they have been left waiting for more news on the whereabouts of their belongings.
The traveller told NBC6 “I cannot fly because I don’t have my bags with me, so I’m just stuck here.”
Grace Florez was heading from North Carolina to Colombia but got stuck in Fort Lauderdale after her connection was cancelled.
She still doesn’t know where her bags are nearly two days later.
“It’s difficult, and it’s frustrating,” she said. “I just go with the flow. I don’t stress myself, but I need to work tomorrow.”
As the airline has been left with no customer service, she is left with no answers.
“I’m clueless,” she said. “I hope they are somewhere back there. I don’t know what to do. Other than waiting.”
Spirit Airlines, a budget carrier in the United States, has begun winding down operations, cancelling all flights, after talks with the Trump administration to secure a $500m bailout failed. Experts say a spike in aviation fuel prices from the US-Israel war on Iran dealt the final blow to the struggling airline that pioneered the ultralow-cost carrier model.
The airline’s shutdown after 34 years has left some 17,000 staff members unemployed, many passengers stranded, and raised doubts about the future of budget air travel.
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How did Spirit Airlines reach this point? Did the US-Israel war on Iran deliver the final blow?
Here’s what we know:
On Saturday, Spirit Aviation Holdings, the airline’s parent company, said the company had started to wind down operations.
“Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc … today regretfully announced that the Company has started an orderly wind-down of operations, effective immediately. All Spirit flights have been cancelled, and Spirit Guests should not go to the airport,” the company said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement added that, despite its efforts, “the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook”.
Spirit Airlines, whose airfares were lower compared with other US airlines, had 4,119 domestic flights scheduled between May 1 and May 15, offering 809,638 seats, according to the latest data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
The carrier’s parent firm started as a long-haul trucking company in 1964. It shifted to aviation around 1983. The carrier rebranded from Charter One Airlines to Spirit in 1992.
The airline had been struggling financially for years and had filed for bankruptcy twice – in November 2024 and then in August 2025 – due to continued losses, high debt, and intense competition from other airlines.
According to a May 2 report by the Reuters news agency, Spirit had recently reached a deal with its lenders that would have helped it emerge from its second bankruptcy by late spring or early summer.
But the war on Iran, which led to a significant increase in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, added to Spirit’s financial struggles and complicated its bankruptcy exit.
Spirit’s restructuring plan assumed ATF costs of about $2.24 a gallon in 2026 and $2.14 in 2027, but prices had climbed to about $4.51 a gallon by the end of April, leaving the carrier unable to survive without new financing.
A Spirit board meeting ended without an agreement to rescue the company, a person close to the discussions told Reuters late on Friday.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Reuters he tried to get many airlines to buy Spirit but found no takers. “What would someone buy?” Duffy asked. “If no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?”
US President Donald Trump also said he had tried to bail out the airline with a $500m financing package.
“If we can help them, we will, but we have to come first,” Trump told reporters. “If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal.”
However, a creditor close to the deal told Reuters, “The Trump administration made an extraordinary effort to try and save Spirit, but you can’t breathe life into a corpse. Given that, the company should make its intentions clear for the sake of its customers and employees.”
Anita Mendiratta, special adviser to the UN Tourism secretary-general, noted that while war and geopolitical instability may not have caused Spirit’s collapse, they likely delivered the final blow.
“Surging fuel costs exposed the vulnerability of airlines operating on thin margins with little room for shock absorption,” she told Al Jazeera.
“Spirit’s weaknesses were already there – it had already gone through two bankruptcy filings in the two years prior; global instability simply accelerated the inevitable. In today’s aviation market, volatility is no longer an exception; it is the operating environment,” Mendiratta said.
The war on Iran has disrupted global oil and gas prices, with Brent crude rising above $111 a barrel on Friday. The high crude oil prices have also caused ATF prices to rise, affecting budget airlines badly.
Across the globe, airlines have been increasing prices to reflect the high ATF prices, and some have also reduced their flight operations.
German airline Lufthansa said last month it cancelled 20,000 flights in a bid to protect itself from the soaring ATF costs.
On Friday, leading Indian carrier Air India said it has increased fuel surcharges on all flights, adding that it will reduce 100 flights a day across its domestic and international routes.
Mendiratta noted that the aviation industry is on alert as airlines carrying high debt, facing fuel cost volatility, labour cost pressures, fleet constraints, and sustained pricing pressure remain exposed [to the war], especially those operating through a low-cost carrier model.
“What happens next is a defining test of aviation leadership. The rapid response from rival airlines to protect stranded passengers reflects an industry that understands its most valuable asset is not aircraft or market share, it is customer trust [both traveller and cargo],” she said.
“Just as importantly, how airlines support displaced employees, reassure markets, and reinforce operational stability will shape confidence in the sector’s long-term recovery,” she added.
PATRICK Muldoon’s tragic cause of death has been confirmed after the soap star’s sudden collapse at the age of 57.
The Days Of Our Lives and Melrose Place actor died from a heart attack, according to official records, with several underlying health conditions also revealed.
New details show Muldoon suffered a myocardial infarction – more commonly known as a heart attack – on April 19, as confirmed by his death certificate.
The document, released by the County of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Health, also listed contributing factors to his death.
These included a hereditary coagulopathy disorder, which affects blood clotting, and a pulmonary embolism – a dangerous blood clot that travels to the lungs and blocks blood flow.
The actor was cremated on Tuesday, with his occupation listed as both actor and producer.
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His sister, Shana Muldoon-Zappa, had earlier shared that he died of a heart attack, posting a touching tribute alongside a final video sent to family just hours before his death.
In the clip, Muldoon is seen joking while showing a painting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
“As always, he jokes… and yet profoundly brings all things into one moment,” she wrote.
“The joke-ster, the artist, the football player, and the intensely spiritually connected, Jesuit educated, incredible being that is Patrick Muldoon. My best friend. The best brother/son/uncle/anyone could ever possibly ask for.”
“I will have so much more to share as I know he loves this earthly realm and all he created within it,” she continued, “including all of the love and light his spirit is now receiving through all of you…. Surrounding you in light.”
Tributes also poured in from friends and co-stars, including actress Barbara Eden.
“Patrick was a sweet man who was very personable,” she said.
“I enjoyed the time we spent between takes and just enjoying each other’s company in general during the production of the film. He made the experience even more fun.”
“While the passing of a loved one is never easy,” she added, “it is especially difficult when it’s unexpected and sudden as I understand Patrick’s was. My thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends.”
Born in San Pedro, California, Patrick Muldoon shot to fame in the 1990s after launching his career while studying in the University of Southern California, where he also played football.
He first appeared on Who’s the Boss? before landing a role on Saved By the Bell after graduating in 1991.
His big break came as Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives, a role he originated between 1992 and 1995 before returning years later.
Muldoon later played villain Richard Hart on Melrose Place and starred in a string of TV movies.
On the big screen, he was known for playing Zander Barcalow in the 1997 sci-fi hit Starship Troopers.
His final film, Dirty Hands, is due for release later this year.
Away from the spotlight, Muldoon worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of films and was also passionate about music, performing as lead singer of The Sleeping Masses.
Known as “Bobo” to loved ones, Muldoon is survived by his partner Miriam Rothbart, his parents, his sister and extended family.
