Any airline cessation is devastating, particularly for the employees. The end of Spirit is no different. As usual, other operators sense opportunities, and some of them have already announced routes that were operated by the now-defunct carrier.

JetBlue has revealed 11 additional markets from Fort Lauderdale, which was Spirit’s number one airport. Meanwhile, Breeze has added four extra routes. Expect other airlines to announce more links soon that result directly from Spirit’s end.

JetBlue Will Now Begin These Routes

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JetBlue 

In recent days, the carrier has disclosed that it’ll launch flights from Fort Lauderdale to Barranquilla (from October 1; daily), Baltimore (from July 9; three daily), Cali (from October 15; daily), Charlotte (from July 9; three daily), Chicago O’Hare (from June 9; two daily), Columbus (from November 2; daily), Detroit (from July 9; two daily), Houston Intercontinental (from July 9; three daily), Indianapolis (from November 2; daily), Nashville (from July 9; three daily), and Ponce (from July 9; daily). Some of the frequencies are very ambitious.

Cirium Diio data shows that Spirit flew all of these routes, except Ponce, this year. JetBlue has served six of those Fort Lauderdale markets (more than half) before. They are Baltimore (until 2019), Charlotte (until 2010), Chicago O’Hare (until 2022), Detroit (until 2019), Nashville (until 2024), and Ponce (until 2008).

Significantly, Barranquilla, Cali, and Indianapolis are brand-new destinations in JetBlue’s network. Baltimore, Charlotte, and Columbus are also noteworthy. As part of JetBlue’s reorganization, the carrier ceased flying to the cities in North Carolina and Maryland in 2024 (both places were last served from Boston). In contrast, Columbus was on its map until 2008 (from Boston/New York JFK).

Breeze Will Introduce These Four Routes

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The fast-growing Breeze is used to announcing new routes. This time, it has added four additional links from Atlantic City. It’ll begin flying from the city in New Jersey to Fort Myers (from October 22; three weekly), Orlando (from May 8; initially three weekly but later daily), Myrtle Beach (from October 22; two weekly), and West Palm Beach (from December 17; three weekly).

Unsurprisingly, Spirit flew all of these routes this year. The carrier, whose troubles existed for some time, had served Atlantic City for decades. Between 2022 and 2024, Spirit was the city’s sole scheduled operator. As Allegiant only joined it late last year, the US Department of Transportation shows that Spirit provided 99.6% (!) of Atlantic City’s traffic in 2025. (This excludes American’s Landline-operated motorcoach service to Philadelphia.)

Things have changed dramatically again. Spirit is out, with Breeze to become Atlantic City’s largest operator in 2026. It has not even debuted there yet. Its first service is due to land later this week, on May 6, initially from Charleston. Routes from Tampa start on June 11, followed by those from Raleigh/Durham, which is Breeze’s new most-served airport, on July 1. These three markets have, of course, already been announced.

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Analysis of DOT data from 1992 to 2025 shows that Spirit transported over 25 million passengers to/from Atlantic City. The carrier provided 93.7% of the airport’s traffic in those 33 years. It was utterly critical. Many other airlines came and went. While the list is not exhaustive, other operators include Air Canada (in 2015), airTran (until 2012), Delta (left in 2008), JetBlue (last regular flights in 2011), United (in 2014), US Airways (until 1994, then returned in 2003), WestJet (until 2010), and so on.

Spirit carried 663,000 passengers to/from Atlantic City in 2025. But as it had far too many seats for sale relative to traffic, its load factor was a poor 70.5%. Except for during the pandemic in 2020, this was the second-worst year in its history at the airport. Not that it matters now. The best route in this sense was Orlando, but that market only had three in four seats filled (74.6%). Spirit’s well-discussed troubles would have contributed to these results.