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FREE SPIRIT
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SPIRIT WINGS
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Spirit Airlines, Inc
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1980 (as Charter One)
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Miramar , Florida
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FREE SPIRIT
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http://wwwspiritaircom
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is a
United States ultra-
Low-cost Airline operating scheduled flights throughout the Americas. The airline is headquartered in
Miramar, Florida . Over half of the airline's flights are to destinations in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Latin America.
Spirit Airlines began in , Charter One began scheduled service from Boston and Providence, R.I. to Atlantic City. On
May 29 ,
1992 Charter One brought jet equipment into the fleet, changed its name to Spirit Airlines and inaugurated service from Detroit to Atlantic City.
In April
1993 , Spirit Airlines began scheduled service to destinations in Florida. During the next five years, Spirit expanded rapidly, increasing service from Detroit and adding service in new markets such as Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Los Angeles and New York.
Spirit relocated its headquarters in December
1999 , moving from
Eastpointe, Michigan to
Miramar, Florida . Expansion continued with the addition of the Chicago market as well as coast-to-coast service to Los Angeles. In November
2001 , Spirit inaugurated service to San Juan, Puerto Rico and implemented a fully integrated Spanish-language customer service plan including a website and dedicated reservation line. In
2002 , Spirit started new service to Denver, Colo. and Las Vegas, Nevada and expanded service to many of its existing markets. In the Fall of
2003 , Spirit resumed flights to Washington, D.C’s Reagan National Airport, which had been suspended after the
9/11 Terrorist Attacks , and began service to Cancún, Mexico.
Although Spirit is no longer headquartered in
Michigan and plans to close its remaining pilot base and reservations presence there, the airline's operating certificate continues to reflect its registration in the city of
Eastpointe .
In
2004 , the airline added Santo Domingo and Providence to its network. In
2005 , Spirit Airlines launched its biggest expansion effort yet, adding numerous destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas. By February 2006, Spirit's portfolio of destinations in the region totaled ten. Spirit also began service to
Grand Cayman , San Francisco, and Boston in 2006, and in 2007 filed
DOT applications to offer service to Costa Rica, Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela.
In
2006 Spirit launched a
Frequent Flyer Program called FREE SPIRIT. It offers award travel starting at 15,000 miles, lower than most other frequent flyer programs. The FREE SPIRIT program also guarantees award availability on every flight.
In
2006 Spirit announced it will exercise options and order 30 more
Airbus A319-100 aircraft for further expansion.
{Link without Title} The aircraft will have a scheduled delivery of 2009 to 2013.
On
March 6 ,
2007 , Spirit announced their transition to become the first Ultra- Low Cost carrier in the United States. Their initial plan is to begin charging $10 per checked bag for the first two bags ($5 if bags are pre-reserved online prior to the flight), in addition to charging $1 for drinks which are currently complimentary. Starting
June 20 , Spirit Plus, was rebranded as BIG FRONT SEAT will no longer provide business class service. For an additional fee, a person can choose BIG FRONT SEAT, or upgrade at the airport. The airline models its business plan and operating style to that of ultra low-cost carriers
Ryanair and
Air Asia yet has added numerous innovations to further the "ala carte" pricing option. http://www.spiritair.com/Welcome.aspx?pg=aboutspirit&code=AboutUS
See Also: Spirit Airlines destinations
currently flies to 37 destinations throughout
Central America , the
Caribbean , and the
United States . Upcoming schedule changes include the addition of
Ponce, Puerto Rico on November 1,
Oranjestad, Aruba on November 10, and
Freeport, Bahamas on December 13, 2007, which will increase Spirit's destination count to 40. Spirit operates a point-to-point system and no hubs.
- Daily nonstop service between Ponce, Puerto Rico (PSE) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL) begins November 1, 2007.
- Saturday only nonstop service between Oranjestad, Aruba (AUA) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL) begins November 10, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Freeport, Bahamas (FPO) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL) begins December 13, 2007.
The airline also is awaiting foreign government approvals to fly to
Caracas ,
Venezuela with plans to begin service in the second half of 2007.
The Spirit Airlines all-Airbus fleet consists of the following 37 aircraft as of September 2007:
Spirit Air Fleet Detail
As of September 2007, Spirit's average fleet age was 1.9 years old. Spirit has the youngest Airbus fleet in the Americas
Spirit Air Youngest Fleet .
By retiring all non-Airbus aircraft, Spirit Airlines now has one of the youngest fleets of any airline. The following planes no longer operate in the Spirit Airlines fleet:
In 2006, Spirit launched a
Frequent Flyer Program called "FREE SPIRIT". The five "status levels" for members are Somebody, Elite, VIP, A-List, Celebrity, and "#1", offering progressively increasing benefits including the name on a plane for a year to the #1 flyer. As with several other frequent flyer programs, ones' level of membership increases as one accumulates additional frequent flyer miles. But unlike any other program, it is relative performance that determines the level rather than absolute performance. Spirit Airlines does not consider Free Spirit to be a loyalty program but rather a rewards-based profit program.
{Link without Title}
In
2006 , the airline released a "Hunt for Hoffa"
Advertising Campaign with the tagline "Help us find Hoffa with our Hunt for Hoffa game and enjoy fares from just $39 each way." The point of the game was to dig for
Jimmy Hoffa 's body by clicking grids on the airline's website, and "winners" were taken to another webpage, saying "You found Hoffa!," thanking them for assisting the National Spirit Sale Center find the union leader's body.
1 Within hours after the promotion debuted, the airline received many complaints, and the promotion was taken down immediately and changed to another promotion, simply titled "Happy Sale." This promotion was later listed as #8 on
CNN Money 's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.
2 Despite this, the sale was the most successful in Spirit's history.
