the biggest US Budget Airline Spirit has filed for bankruptcy here’s what you need to know Spirit has lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020 it also faces debt payments totaling more than $1 billion over the next year so how did this happen people are still flying Spirit but they aren’t paying as much about 10% less per mile the airline also failed to return to profitability when the pandemic got better and people began traveling again additionally the biggest US Airlines got some of Spur’s customers by offering their own version of barebone tickets the premium end of the air TR Market has surged to causing Spirit to sell bundled fairs that include a bigger seat free bags and snacks and drinks this is a huge change from spirit’s longtime strategy of attracting customers with low fairs and asking them to pay for things like carry-on bags for now SP says it expects to operate normally during this bankruptcy process and customers can continue to fly without interruption