Spirit Airlines

Sometimes there is too much of a good thing like at Spirit Airlines, where a too-rapid summer recovery ended in operational disaster. The discounter has scaled back its plans with a focus on hiring and improved reliability with its eye now on 2023 to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Airport access awards don't usually make the news, but the Biden administration is making a usually obscure federal process part of its larger competition agenda. The upshot is that Spirit Airlines could stand to benefit from more rights at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Google's attractions ticket beta has been among its least elegant in travel to date. This has angered many tour operators because it couldn't have come at a more inopportune time.

In an industry record, four budget airlines generated more revenue from ancillaries than they did from ticket sales in 2020. More importantly, ancillary revenue grew across all of the largest airlines last year despite the crisis.

A significant ancillary play from the Canadian online travel agency, but not quite the leap forward for so-called new distribution capability in the U.S. many would want to see, given Spirit's reach and target flyers.

Spirit delivered better than expected earnings, but just barely. The company is preparing for fuller loads and a return to profits, confident in its strengths flying to leisure destinations. But a lot of carriers have expressed that same confidence.

Flowers are not the only thing sprouting as the weather warms up. Airline bookings are also showing some green shoots but most hesitate to call it a recovery yet with eyes focused on sustained improvements this summer.

Spirit Airlines says its business model carrying budget-minded flyers cheaply from point A to point B is sound. And even with the threat of a new domestic Covid testing mandate, the carrier is bullish on its prospects to grow this year.