[9] In April 1993, Spirit Airlines began scheduled service to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Petersburg, Florida.

[12] The overbooking occurred because Spirit Airlines had given incorrect instructions to travel agents, causing those tickets not to be valid, even though the customers had paid for the flights.

[7][16] Prior to the decision to move the headquarters to Miramar, Spirit considered Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan.

[18] Discrepancies were found in the marking and placarding of emergency equipment, passenger seats, storage areas and doors on eight of Spirit's DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft.

They implemented a fully integrated Spanish-language customer service plan, including a website and dedicated reservation line.

In 2007, Spirit filed DOT applications to offer service to Costa Rica, Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela.

[citation needed] In January 2005, Ben Baldanza was hired as the President of Spirit, with the goal of making the company profitable.

[citation needed] In June 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 their San Juan and LaGuardia crew bases.

[22] In September 2008, Spirit began placing advertisements on the side of aircraft, overhead bins, tray tables, seatback inserts and bulkheads.

On June 12, 2010, Spirit grounded its flights when its unionized pilots walked out on strike, stranding thousands of passengers.

[30] In April 2012, Spirit refused to refund a terminally ill American military veteran, who had purchased a non-refundable ticket between Florida and Atlantic City before receiving orders from his doctor not to fly.

[31][32] The decision caused outrage among veterans' groups and the general public, some of whom threatened to boycott Spirit unless both a refund and apology were issued.

In May, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza apologized for how the situation was handled and personally refunded the man's ticket.

[33] In August 2013, Spirit reached an agreement on a new five-year deal with the Transport Workers Union of America, who represent the airline's flight dispatchers.

[39] In November 2017, Spirit's on-time performance was second in the country, behind only Delta Air Lines, a significant improvement from December 2015, when it ranked last among thirteen airlines with 68.7% of flights arriving on time.

[41] In May 2018, Spirit announced that they would be the first ultra-low-cost carrier to fit their aircraft with high-speed WiFi access that started in the fall of 2018.

[48] In August, some pilots and flight attendants agreed to take a voluntary leave of absence or have their work schedule temporarily reduced to avoid layoffs.

The SES-17 high-throughput satellite from operator SES provides A320 and A321 passengers across all Spirit routes with connection speeds of up to 400 Mbit/s throughout their flight.

[56] On January 24, 2025, Spirit Airlines updated its dress code, stating that a passenger can be denied boarding if they wear inappropriate clothing and/or offensive tattoos.

[67] The Department of Justice sued to block the deal,[68] alleging that the merger would result in "higher fares, fewer seats, and harm millions of consumers".

Speculators predicted that Spirit may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection followed by a liquidation process if the airline could not come up with a growth plan.

[80] Spirit Airlines, Inc., is a Delaware corporation[81] that was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange until its bankruptcy filing in 2024 (NYSE: SAVE).

[90] Sloan added that the interior, prior to a 2014 renovation, was, "To put it charitably, [...] a dump", but that employees felt ownership over the office.

[96] Spirit Airlines has been the subject of numerous complaints, and to punitive actions by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).

As of September 2024[update], It maintains crew bases at Atlanta, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston–Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Miami, Newark, and Orlando.