As Spirit shuts down operations, which airlines stand to gain the most?

Spirit Airlines, which had been facing growing financial pressures over the past few years, has ceased operations and is in the process of liquidation after 34 years in business, effectively shutting down as of May 2, 2026. The closure marks the end of one of the most prominent ultra-low-cost carriers in the U.S. market after years of restructuring efforts and failed merger attempts.

Consumer perceptions of Spirit had long been challenging. According to publicly available YouGov Surveys data, 27% of Americans said traveling by Spirit Airlines was a worse experience compared to other U.S. airlines, while only 7% said it was better.

Despite Spirit’s shutdown, most Americans do not expect major disruption to their travel habits. According to YouGov Surveys data, 72% say Spirit’s closure will have no effect on their likelihood of traveling by plane, while 7% say it will make them less likely to fly and 3% say it will make them more likely.

With most Americans expecting little disruption to their travel habits, the question becomes which airlines stand to benefit from Spirit’s disappearance. YouGov BrandIndex offers insight into which carriers might attract Americans who had been considering flying with Spirit.

Where Spirit flyers may go next

United Airlines ranks as the most widely considered airline among Spirit considerers, with 63.6% saying they would consider the carrier. American Airlines (62.5%) and Delta Air Lines (62.3%) follow closely behind. That ranking differs slightly from the national picture, where Delta ranks first among all Americans (37.7%), ahead of American (36.7%) and United (36.5%).

Southwest also performs strongly among Spirit considerers, with 60.9% saying they would consider the airline compared with 31.9% among the general public.

Budget airlines see the biggest lift among Spirit considerers

Perhaps unsurprisingly, low-cost competitors over-index particularly sharply. Nearly half of Spirit considerers say they would consider JetBlue (47.0%), while Frontier reaches 44.0% — more than five times its consideration level among all Americans (8.5%). Allegiant Airlines also posts elevated interest, with 26.9% consideration among Spirit considerers versus 7.0% nationally.

Rounding out the top 10 among Spirit considerers are Alaska Air (24.5%), Air Canada (23.2%), and Virgin Atlantic (23.0%).

Overall, the data suggests that Spirit considerers were not exclusively loyal to ultra-low-cost airlines. Instead, they appeared to be highly active airline shoppers, with strong engagement across both budget and legacy carriers.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Consideration score for airlines is based on the percentage of people who say they would consider flying with an airline when they are next in the market. Data is weighted using a propensity scoring methodology with targets from the American Community Survey (ACS) to ensure representation by age, gender, race, education, and region. The scores are based on a six-month average, with the observation period for this analysis being from Nov 04, 2025 to May 03, 2026.