Major budget airline goes out of business

US ultra low-cost airline Spirit Airlines is no more.

The airline cancelled all flights effective immediately on Saturday morning US time, and told passengers not to go to airports for their flights.

The airline's website homepage, where customers could previously make reservations, has a bright yellow banner declaring that Spirit was “winding down all operations,” The New York Times reported.

The budget airline had lost billions of dollars in recent years, filing for bankruptcy in 2024 and 2025.

The Trump administration offered a $US500 million federal lifeline, but the airline’s investors and government officials could not reach an agreement on how to structure a deal to save the company.

“Unfortunately, despite the company’s efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,” the airline said. 

“With no additional funding available to the company, Spirit had no choice but to begin this wind-down.”

In 2023 n 2023, Miami-based Spirit was the seventh-largest passenger carrier in North America with a business model based on keeping costs very low and offering customers cheap tickets.

It had over 130 aircraft in its fleet and served 70 destinations.

Airport chaos as thousands of flights cancelled

What a weekend of airline chaos in icy North America. 

Airlines cancelled more than 10,000 flights on Sunday due to a winter storm that slammed the north-east of the US. 

The storm brought heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain, the National Weather Service reported. There were also been more than 670,000 power outages reported in the US, travel news hub skift.com reported.

On Sunday, there were 10,519 cancellations and 2,037 delays in the US, website FlightAware reported.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport had the highest numbers of cancelled flights at 556 and 538, respectively.

Out of New York’s JFK Airport, 77% of flights were cancelled and LaGuardia had 91% of its flights cancelled. 

Disruptions were expected to last into Monday with airports in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. most affected. 

In Canada, more than half of the flights at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and close to half at the city's smaller Billy Bishop Airport were cancelled on Sunday.

Major carriers like American, Delta, United, Southwest, and JetBlue were waiving change and cancellation fees, along with fare differences for customers impacted by the storm. 

Southwest warned that additional re-bookings could take time due to the scale of the storm. 

Image: A plane is de-iced at Denver Airport

Air Canada back in the air, fingers crossed

This morning’s Canadian newspapers are full of tales of woe caused the Air Canada flight crew strike. Passengers stranded, ignored, refused assistance or compensation.

But at last there is good news for those who choose to fly with the comedy capers airline.

Not me. This time I arrived in Canada with Qatar Airways. A slightly longer flight sure, but at least I wasn’t stranded in Vancouver for days.

Today’s update: crew at Air Canada have privisionally ended the dispute with the airline which had grounded flights and stranded thousands of passengers since Saturday.

A tentative agreement was announced by the union representing flight attendants and confirmed by the airline, which said flights will resume later on Tuesday. 

More than 10,000 staff had walked out in protest at pay and scheduling. The full deal has not been disclosed, although the union said it achieves "transformational change" for workers and the industry.

The agreement will now be presented to members to be ratified.

The breakthrough came nine hours after talks began with the help of an approved mediator appointed by the government.

"Unpaid work is over," said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in a statement early on Tuesday, calling the negotiations a "historic fight" for the industry.

The union also advised its members to "fully co-operate with resumption of operations".

The dispute between Air Canada and the union had escalated when CUPE rejected an order to return to work issued by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, which deemed the strike "unlawful" in a ruling on Monday.

Following news of a tentative deal, Air Canada said the first flights would restart on Tuesday evening, but it may take days to return to a full service because aircraft and crew are out of position.

In contract negotiations, Air Canada said it had offered flight attendants a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year.

CUPE said the offer was "below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage" and would still leave flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work, including boarding and waiting at airports ahead of flights.

The four-day strike has reportedly impacted more than 500,000 passengers, Air Canada has said.

Perth Airport in chaos as flights are cancelled

Flying in our out of Perth Airport this weekend? Good luck with that.

The airport in one of the most remote cities on earth has been in chaos this morning with no planes allowed to land or depart as officials deal with a serious fuel supply issue.

Our Brisbane correspondent was a victim this morning with a family trip to Perth starting with boarding as usual.

They then rported: "All flights into Perth cancelled due to a refuelling problem at Perth airport. We have had to disembark. And now we wait. And wait."

An estimated 70 flights were cancelled or delayed before the airport said the issue had been resolved around lunchtime, local media reported.


“Refuelling operations have recommenced at Perth Airport,” the airport said in an afternoon statement. “We will now work with our airline partners to help clear a backlog of flights and get passengers on their way. Please contact your airline for updates on your flight.”

QF10 from London to Perth was diverted to Karratha because of the Perth Airport fuel problem. You can imagine how delighted those on board were. 

A Perth Airport spokesman confirmed that aircraft could not re-fuel due to a problem with load pressure in the fuel lines at the facility.

“Perth Airport is currently experiencing a significant fuel supply issue which is impacting the ability to refuel aircraft,” the spokesman said before the issue was resolved. 

“Passengers should contact their airline for information about their flights. Perth Airport is working with external experts to fix the problem and we apologise for any inconvenience.”

The joys of flying in 2024.

Australian budget airline goes into voluntary administration after flights are grounded

The future of recently launched Australian low-cost airline Bonza is in doubt after it cancelled all its flights this morning and then announced it had gone into voluntary administration.

The company has appointed Hall Chadwick as voluntary administrators, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission said.

Early flights in and out of the budget airline’s base on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast were cancelled on Tuesday, along with routes from Melbourne to Rockhampton, Gladstone and Tamworth.

Last year, only a few months after launching, Bonza slashed several routes from its schedule, citing a lack of "sustainable demand".

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said all services were “temporarily suspended” in a statement released on Tuesday morning.

Jordan said discussions were being held into the airline’s ongoing viability.

“We apologise to customers who are impacted by this and we’re working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market,” he said.

Virgin Australia offered free seats to anyone caught out mid-journey by the Bonza groundings, but many Bonza routes are not covered by other airlines.

Bonza launched in early 2023 and has recently been selling seats for as low as $49.

The Financial Review has reported an aviation source suggesting that the airline's creditors have repossessed Bonza’s fleet of Boeing 737-MAX 8 planes.

Thousands of flights cancelled at Gatwick Airport

Are you planning to fly in or out of London's Gatwick Airport this northern summer?

Good luck.

The airport announced this week that it is axing over 4,000 scheduled flights between now and September.

Gatwick will cap the number of flights to 825 per day in July and 850 in August.

About 900 daily flights normally operate during the summer peak.

The aim is a ‘more reliable and better standard of service,’ airport officials say. no doubt with tongue firmly in cheek.

The cuts will allegedly allow airlines to better manage expectations and make for a smoother operation, Travel Mole reports.

The cutbacks will impact as many as 800,000 holidaymakers.

“We have now successfully recruited 400 new colleagues to help us process passengers quickly through security this summer,” Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said.

“We are also working closely with our airlines to avoid disruption to passengers this summer, and while more newly recruited staff will start work in coming weeks, we know it will be a busy summer.

“We are also working closely with our airlines to avoid disruption to passengers this summer.”

All good then.