Budget Airline Stops Flights At San Diego Airport: Reports

SAN DIEGO, CA — Spirit Airlines will end service at San Diego International Airport, in addition to the San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento airports on Oct. 2, the discount airline carrier announced. Spirit was the second largest airline operating out of Oakland until recently, according to SFGate.

Spirit does not currently operate any flights out of San Francisco International Airport.

The news comes less than a week after the Florida-based airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year.

“We apologize to our Guests for any inconvenience this may cause and will reach out to those with affected reservations to notify them of their options, including a refund,” the airline said in a statement. “We are grateful to the airports, business partners and community members in these markets who welcomed and supported us.”

Spirit will continue operating under court supervision and an ongoing restructuring, and will continue to maintain a presence in California, namely LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport, and John Wayne Airport in Orange County. It continues to offer flights across the U.S. and to the Caribbean and Latin America.

In addition to San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento, the airline is suspending service in:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Birmingham, AL
• Boise, ID
• Chattanooga, TN
• Columbia, SC
• Portland, OR
• Salt Lake City, UT

The airline has also suspended plans to begin operating out of Macon, Georgia on Oct. 16.

Competitors have wasted little time in filling this gap. Frontier, Spirit’s long-time competitor, announced 20 new routes from Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte and Dallas, according to a CBS News report. United Airlines also said that it would add flights to 15 cities starting Jan. 6, including Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Las Vegas.

Spirit has lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020, and first filed for bankruptcy in November 2024 amid years of mounting debt. It refiled again in August.