In the wake of Spirit Airlines shutting down, American Airlines announced Saturday emergency measures to assist thousands of stranded Spirit passengers and displaced Spirit employees from the Miramar-based ultra-low-cost carrier.
AA officials, in a statement, reported it has implemented "rescue fares" on routes where it competes directly with Spirit. The airline notes its serves 70 of the 72 airports Spirit presently serves, and 67 Spirit routes.
In addition to price caps, the airline is evaluating its fleet logistics to handle the sudden surge in demand.
"We are also reviewing opportunities to add additional capacity — including utilizing larger aircraft and adding flights on critical routes — to support as many affected passengers as possible," the company said in a statement.
The collapse of Spirit Airlines marks a seismic shift for the South Florida aviation landscape, particularly at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where Spirit has long been the dominant carrier.
American Airlines officials confirmed they are in contact with the U.S. Transportation Department to "mitigate the impact on the communities Spirit serves and the traveling public."
The outreach extends beyond passengers to the thousands of Spirit employees now facing an uncertain future. American has pledged to provide transportation for Spirit crew members displaced during work trips and bring them onboard permanently.
American said they will soon create a "microsite" on https://jobs.aa.com/ for Spirit employees interested in joining American and will hold recruiting events in the coming weeks.
Affected Spirit customers looking to rebook via American are being directed to use the American Airlines app or aa.com.
"We recognize this is a difficult moment for the Spirit Airlines team and the airline's customers, and American stands ready to assist however we can," the carrier said.
Spirit, the airline known for its bright yellow planes, said Saturday it had shut down after its final flight departed from Detroit and landed safely in Dallas.
The announcement comes after two bankruptcy filings in as many years that allowed Spirit to repay lenders. That was followed in recent months by a final, mad-dash scramble to save money by cutting routes, squeezing concessions from unions and pursuing a potential financing deal with the Trump administration that could have provided a lifeline had it panned out.
But in the end, higher jet fuel prices triggered by the Iran war drained cash from the business at an accelerating pace, forcing it to call it quits.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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