Travelers stranded by Spirit Airlines’ abrupt shutdown on Saturday morning got help from competing airlines offering rescue flights and capping rebooked ticket prices. JetBlue Airlines is going further, adding 11 new routes to replace missing Spirit destinations, including five new cities.
JetBlue, Spirit’s biggest rival at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), announced on May 2 new daily nonstop flights from Baltimore, Maryland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Barranquilla and Cali in Colombia.
The carrier will also add new nonstop service to existing routes from Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Houston, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Ponce, Puerto Rico.
JetBlue will also increase service on multiple existing routes from Fort Lauderdale, including to Austin, Texas; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; and Santo Domingo, and Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic.
“South Florida is a key market for JetBlue, and we recognize this is a challenging moment for many travelers,” said JetBlue’s CEO, Joanna Geraghty. “Our focus is on stepping up in the near term by adding service, maintaining connectivity, and keeping fares competitive, so customers can continue to travel with confidence.”
What is JetBlue doing for Spirit passengers?
New JetBlue routes to replace Spirit
JetBlue expects to operate nearly 130 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale this summer, the company said, over 75% more daily flights than last year.
“South Florida is a key market for JetBlue, and we recognize this is a challenging moment for many travelers,” said Geraghty. “Our focus is on stepping up in the near term by adding service, maintaining connectivity, and keeping fares competitive, so customers can continue to travel with confidence.”
What happened to Spirit Airlines?
All Spirit Airlines flights were canceled early Saturday morning, May 2, stranding thousands of travelers and crewmembers around the country after the struggling Florida carrier was unable to negotiate a $500 million bailout from the U.S. government.
Spirit had struggled through two years of bankruptcies and failed mergers but was on its way to emerging from its latest bankruptcy with a streamlined network when the U.S.-Iran conflict caused jet fuel prices to skyrocket, adding to the ultra-low-cost airline’s difficulty maintaining solvency.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: JetBlue adding new Florida routes, $99 rescue fares to fill Spirit gap
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
