(The Center Square) – As Spirit moved out, JetBlue swooped into North America’s seventh busiest passenger airport.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, at peak, had eight daily nonstop departures for Spirit Airlines. Saturday, its message to all was “an orderly wind-down of our operations” effective immediately and to include cancelation of all flights and customer services.
Monday, JetBlue added Charlotte among six new locations for service. Three nonstops from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., begin July 9.
Low demand ended JetBlue’s previous service to the nation’s 14th largest city in 2024.
Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, said in a statement, “Our focus is simple: make it easier for customers to stay connected with the people and places that matter, while delivering the service, comfort and value they expect from JetBlue.”
Dave Davis, president and CEO of Spirit, indirectly cited the military strikes by America and Israel on Iran leading to more than 60 days of conflict as the reason for the closure. A casualty of those countries’ impasse has been fuel prices.
Spirit, however, was already in dire straits long before the Strait of Hormuz – and its blockage – became so widely known.
“In March 2026, we reached an agreement with our bondholders on a restructuring plan that would have allowed us to emerge as a go-forward business,” Davis said. “However, the sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the company.”
Charlotte Douglas, its website says, serves 188 destinations through three foreign flag carriers, seven major carriers and 15 regional carriers.
Charlotte’s estimated population is 944,742, growing by 70,055 since the COVID-19 outbreak. The Queen City is 14th largest in the nation, second among the eight South Atlantic states, and 7th in the 16-state South as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
JetBlue has operated in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport since July 20, 2006. It does not have flights in and out of Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro.
