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Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) is an American ultra low-cost carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the U.S. as well as the Caribbean, Mexico, and Latin America. In 2011 Spirit airlines reported a 99.2% completion factor for scheduled service. Major focus cities include; Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Chicago/O'Hare and Atlantic City. As of January 2013, Spirit is a two-star airline, and, along with Cubana de Aviación, is the only one in the Americas.

History

(1964-2006)

The company initially started as Clipper Trucking Company in 1964. The airline service was founded in 1980 in Macomb County, Michigan, as Charter One, a Detroit-based charter tour operator providing travel packages to entertainment destinations such as Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and the Bahamas. In 1990 owner Ned Homfeld with the help from Pam Maurer first female manager of Butler Aviation, 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, South Carolina; Los Angeles, and New York.

Spirit initially had its headquarters in Eastpointe, Michigan (formerly East Detroit) in Greater Detroit. It relocated its headquarters in November 1999, moving to Miramar, Florida in the Miami Metropolitan Area. Prior to the decision to move the headquarters to Miramar, Spirit considered Atlantic City, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan.
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 the Fall of 2003, Spirit resumed flights to Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport, which had been suspended after the September 11 attacks.
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 announced it would exercise options and order 30 Airbus A320-200 aircraft for further expansion.The aircraft started delivery in March 2010.

(2007-2010)

On March 6, 2007, Spirit announced their transition to become an ultra low-cost carrier. Their initial plan was to begin charging US$10 per checked bag for the first two bags, $5 if bags are reserved before 24 hours prior to the flight, in addition to charging $1 for drinks which were previously complimentary.
On October 1, 2007, Spirit began to charge $3 for all drinks.
On September 26, 2007, Spirit announced a new branding image for the airline that updates the look of its aircraft.
On June 3, 2008, Spirit Airlines made a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining notice) application to potentially relocate or lay off hundreds of pilots and flight attendants, and the closure of its San Juan crew base and LaGuardia crew base.
In September 2008, Spirit began advertising on the side of aircraft, overhead bins, tray tables, seatback inserts and bulkheads.
A Bureau of Transportation Statistics report concluded that in 2008 Spirit had the highest number of complaints per passenger among U.S. airlines that carry more than 5 million passengers.
In May 2009, Spirit pilots overwhelmingly voted in favor of strike action (98% of votes) due to stalled contract negotiations with management. Areas of dispute included compensation, work rules and benefits. At that time, Spirit pilots were among the lowest paid Airbus pilots in the United States.
On Thursday September 17, 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration fined Spirit Airlines $375,000 for violating the agency's consumer protection regulations, including not compensating bumped passengers, violating various rules regarding delayed baggage compensation, and not including fees in advertised fares.
On April 6, 2010, USA Today reported that Spirit will start to charge for carry-on bags on flights starting August 1, 2010, purchased after April 6, 2010. Bags that fit under the seat and measure 16"x14"12" are still free but passengers wishing to bring larger bags to put in the overhead bin are charged.
On June 20, 2010, Spirit Plus was rebranded as "Big Front Seat" and no longer provided business class service. For an additional fee, a person can choose "Big Front Seat", or upgrade at the airport.
In December 2010, Spirit Airlines introduced its Free Spirit World MasterCard.

Pilot strike (2010)

On June 12, 2010, Spirit grounded its flights when its unionized pilots walked out on strike, stranding thousands of passengers. The ultimately successful pilot strike came after more than four years of inconclusive negotiations between the airline and the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Spirit's pilots. On June 15, negotiations between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Association resumed, and a tentative agreement was reached late in the evening on June 16. The tentative agreement, which Spirit pilots later ratified by a 74% margin, brought the Spirit pilots' compensation and benefits in line with comparable U.S. Airbus operators. Spirit announced that flights would resume on June 18. Of particular note, is that this was the first legal industrial action (strike) by U.S. ALPA represented pilots since 2005 (Polar Air Cargo), and the first passenger airline strike by U.S. ALPA represented pilots since 2001 (Comair).

2011-present

On June 21, 2011, Spirit announced that they would start to charge a $5 fee to passengers who have their boarding passes printed by the check-in agent.
In October 2011, Spirit reduced the weight limit for checked luggage from 50 pounds per bag to 40 pounds per bag, charging $25 for the first 9 extra pounds, and up to $100 for bags approaching 59 pounds over the 40 pound limit.
In April 2012, citing the airline's strict refund policy, Spirit Airlines representative Misty Pinson announced that the airline would not issue a refund to dying veteran Jerry Meekins who chose to purchase a non-refundable ticket though other options were available. The 76-year-old Vietnam veteran and former Marine tried to get his $197 back after learning his esophageal cancer is terminal and being told by his doctor not to fly from Florida to Atlantic City. The decision caused outrage among veterans' groups and the general public, some of whom threatened to boycott Spirit unless a refund and apology were issued. On May 4, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza apologized for how the situation was handled and announced that he would personally refund Meekins' ticket and that the airline would make a $5000 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project in Meekins' name.
On November 16, 2011, Spirit Airlines announced that it would establish a crew and maintenance base at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 2012. The airline announced that it will open a flight attendant and pilot crew base on December 1, 2012.