The aviation industry is dynamic, and it sadly doesn’t take long for an airline to be forgotten as other carriers pick over the lost network and either increase capacity on existing services or add new routes. That’s the case for Spirit, who ceased operations less than one month ago. So, which airlines have picked up new routes and what airports are seeing the heaviest losses since Spirit’s collapse?
Even the most agile airlines cannot replace all of Spirit’s scheduled services overnight, so allowing for some planning and rejigging of schedules, we have chosen September as a good month to determine how much of Spirit's domestic capacity will be filled. The results show a remarkable level of replacement service. Looking at all the routes in Spirit’s network in March 2026, they were the sole operator of just eight and competed with at least one of the “Big Four” (American, United, Southwest and Delta Air Lines) on many routes, which may explain the scale of challenge the airline faced in its final days.
JetBlue has picked up the largest share of Spirit’s capacity
Of the 121 Spirit routes that ceased, nine have been picked up by JetBlue, five by Breeze and five have not been picked up at all. The remaining routes were already being operated by at least one other airline.
It’s ironic that the biggest benefactor from Spirit’s demise is struggling JetBlue, who themselves have been the subject of numerous discussions around mergers and new strategic plans. By September JetBlue will have opened nine new routes that were previously operated by Spirit, with Ft Lauderdale the major benefactor; the two airlines had for many years competed head-to-head there. The addition of nearly 1,300 additional flights in September gives the airline a 37% share of capacity at the airport compared to 22% in April; a healthy increase but still not a dominant market position, as Delta Air Lines holds a 16% capacity share.
While JetBlue may have filled some of the route gaps vacated by Spirit, those routes face some challenges, as at least six of them compete head-to-head with legacy operators. Collectively, Spirit and Jetblue operated some 637,700 seats from FLL in April 2026; that falls to 425,532 in September, a reduction of around one-third. That's not quite as bad as it could have been but nevertheless a significant reduction. While JetBlue will focus on local markets rather than connecting flows, in recent times legacy airlines have fought very hard to keep that local market demand. This could make for some sharp pricing from September onwards.
Spirit's dropped routes filled by JetBlue as of September 2026
Intriguingly none of the “Big Four” airlines have picked up any of the routes that were previously operated by Spirit although each of them operated against Spirit on many routes.
Which of Spirit’s domestic routes have not been filled?
Five routes that were previously only operated by Spirit have not been picked up by any airline to date:
ACY-PBI
ACY-RSW
FLL-SAT
LBE-MCO
EYW-FLL
Atlantic City and Ft Lauderdale both lose two routes and Orlando one route.
The fact that these routes were uncontested and have not been picked up perhaps provides an indication of how commercially successful those services had been.
As the market settles back down again, it will be interesting to see how those routes perform under new ownership in the coming months. JetBlue will certainly be hoping to benefit from adding these routes but as always in the airline industry, only time will tell.
