No it wasn’t. Spirit hasn’t made money in almost 6 years.

 

sounds like another airline I know….

 

Who needs to make money when the NPS scores are high?

 

Operating Margin Comparison

Spirit Airlines (Full-year Operating Margin):

2017: ~14.9%

2018: ~8.4%

2019: ~13.7%


Delta Air Lines (Full-year Operating Margin):

2017: ~13.4%

2018: ~11.6%

2019: ~13.2%


Summary:

In 2017, Spirit held a slight edge over Delta (~14.9% vs. ~13.4%).

2018 was a weaker year for Spirit, whose operating margin dipped (~8.4%) well below Delta’s (~11.6%).

2019 saw Spirit rebound to ~13.7%, slightly outperforming Delta’s ~13.2%.

 

Thanks Grok 😂

 

Why should I think for myself when AI does it so well. 😊

 

End of 2019 was almost 6 years ago. Exactly what I said.

 

Right there with you. I think with Spirit being in it's current situation it just proves that airlines like them, Alaska, us and the other small players mean nothing in the grand scheme. Nobody is coming to save us. The big 3 are too big to fail now. If Spirit goes away, their routes will be picked up by UA/DL/AA, further increasing their hold on the industry. If we go away, they'll continue to do the same. Rinse repeat. They've been allowed to grow and control the whole market.

I've been pessimistic for a while now but this idea that UA is gonna buy and save us is a pipedream IMO. Unless UA gets something incredible out of getting us there's no reason for them to take the risk when they're already dominant.

The part that annoys me the most is that while I obviously feel awful about the Spirit guys, the capitalist in me sees a complete lost opportunity to expand into their market since we've taken on massive debt and aren't getting airplanes. I feel we're gonna miss the boat like we always do while those around us pick up the pieces and use it to grow and get stronger. I hope I'm completely wrong.

 

The capitalist in me sees a complete lost opportunity to re-shuffle the entire industry during covid.

Everyone, us, Delta, United, Spirit… everyone would have gone out of business. It was a one time chance to re-set the market, un-entrench the big 3, right-size capacity, and bring the system into the 2020’s.

Now we’re just stuck with a bunch of bloated, dominant national carriers who barely even make money flying airplanes, and a few inefficient challengers who definitely do not make money flying airplanes.

 

Getting A220 all the way through 2029 then start getting Neos again (if we are still around as JB then). Neos are also returning from P&W debacle. Those planes have to fly somewhere. As of today, the projection is start of growth (or some would say regrowth) by 10 airplanes in 2026. We'll see where those planes fly.