It’s Not Just Spirit: These Budget Airlines Are ‘Burning Cash’—Putting Low-Cost Fares At Risk
From Forbes Topline by Forbes Media LLC
May 5, 2026 · 4 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the financial struggles of budget airlines and the implications for travelers amidst a jet fuel crisis.
The jet fuel crisis was the straw that broke Spirit Airlines’ back, but other budget airlines are also struggling to be profitable and losing market share—a potential warning for cost-conscious travelers, aviation experts tell Forbes. Low-cost carriers—including Allegiant, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and Sun Country—combined for 35.5% of market share in February, down from 38.2% a year earlier, according to Cirium data. Spirit flew 1.7 million passengers in February—a 24% year-over-year drop, per Cirium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Forbes Media LLC
Topics covered
- budget airlines
- aviation industry
- profitability
- market share
- travel
- jet fuel crisis
Keywords
- budget airlines
- Spirit Airlines
- aviation experts
- market share
- jet fuel crisis
- low-cost carriers
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Spirit Airlines, Allegiant, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country, Cirium, Forbes
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