What the End of Spirit Airlines Means for the Future of Flying episode artwork

EPISODE · May 7, 2026 · 33 MIN

What the End of Spirit Airlines Means for the Future of Flying

from The Daily · host Deborah Lebree

When Spirit Airlines shut down over the weekend, it brought an end to a company that had revolutionized air travel in the United States with its ultra-low-cost approach. Niraj Chokshi, who covers aviation for The New York Times, discussed why the company unraveled and whether those problems could spread to other airlines. And Lynsea Garrison, a producer for “The Daily,” spoke to a Spirit flight attendant about what the airline represented. Guest: Niraj Chokshi, a reporter at The New York Times covering aviation, rail and other transportation industries.Colleen Burns, a flight attendant for Spirit Airlines. Background reading:  Spirit Airlines shuts down after years of struggle.Here’s how the demise of Spirit could help other airlines. Photo: Tom Brenner for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Spirit Airlines shut down over the weekend, it brought an end to a company that had revolutionized air travel in the United States with its ultra-low-cost approach. Niraj Chokshi, who covers aviation for The New York Times, discussed why the company unraveled and whether those problems could spread to other airlines. And Lynsea Garrison, a producer for “The Daily,” spoke to a Spirit flight attendant about what the airline represented. Guest: Niraj Chokshi, a reporter at The New York Times covering aviation, rail and other transportation industries.Colleen Burns, a flight attendant for Spirit Airlines. Background reading:  Spirit Airlines shuts down after years of struggle.Here’s how the demise of Spirit could help other airlines. Photo: Tom Brenner for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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What the End of Spirit Airlines Means for the Future of Flying

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This episode was published on May 7, 2026.

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When Spirit Airlines shut down over the weekend, it brought an end to a company that had revolutionized air travel in the United States with its ultra-low-cost approach. Niraj Chokshi, who covers aviation for The New York Times, discussed why the...

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