new york
CNN
–
Ah, spirit.
Travelers frequently lament the small seating of ultra-budget airlines, frequent delays, baggage fees and lack of complementary snacks and drinks. People love to meme careers with minimal treatment of nakedness in the unique yellow plane of the spirit.
However, online, they beat the X and the Trump organization in favor of a company ranked 98th out of 100 in brand reputation in the 2024 Axios Harris Poll. People have pointed out on social media that Spirit has not addressed recent crashes on planes like American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and that budget airlines use the entire Airbus fleet after an incident on a plane built by Boeing.
And it's time for flight anxiety to grow. Google searches for “Is it safe to fly?” This month it spiked in the US.
Experts argue that travel in the US is a safe proposal, as all airlines must meet strict safety regulations and that travelers should not yet hesitate to board planes built with Boeing.
But for the Spirit's most dedicated fans who said they chose to fly the airline for reasons other than a $45 round-trip ticket to Miami, that's not enough.
Natalie Haddad, 31, from Los Angeles, landed in Las Vegas on a spirit jet when she spotted a Delta plane that had been turned upside down in Toronto.
“I'm going to fly Spirit even if Spirit Flight is at the same price as America, Delta and United Airlines,” Haddad told CNN. “I've flew spirits multiple times in the last few months and I felt very safe among them.”
The reason is that, since Spirit doesn't have a maximum of nine Boeing 737s, she said she's on alert after watching the 2022 Netflix documentary about the crash of two 737s biggest planes.
Boeing was scrutinized with a 737 Max 9, which was airing by Alaska Airlines in 2024 when the door plug was blown into the air. However, there were no two crashes recently.
Spirit is by no means an exception. There are many airlines, such as Hawaiian Airlines and Qantas, which have never had a fatal crash. Other airlines like JetBlue have a significant share of almost entirely Airbus fleets and dedicated flyers. The three largest airlines, American Airlines, Delta and United, all benefit from loyal credit card points redeemers.
However, the social media chorus – videos that receive hundreds of thousands of likes – do not support the safety records of these other airlines like this polarized airline.
“Spirit is a small airline. US District Judge William Young wrote that it is blocking the merger between Antimonopoly Act and JetBlue. “To a dedicated client of spirit, this is for you.”
One Tiktok user pointed out in a video with over 700,000 views, “Spirit Airlines have never had a fatal plane crash.” Yes, the $100 flight may not come with feet, but at least it comes with a safe landing. ”
According to the airline's assessment, no passengers have been killed as a result of a flight accident at Spirit. But Spirit made the headline last year when it was one of three US-based jets that were struck by a bullet while flying through Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. And there have been quite a few incidents over the years, from passenger disruptions to smoke inside the plane.
In a statement to CNN, a Spirit Airlines spokesperson said: “The safety of our guests and team members is our number one priority. Commercial air travel is the safest form of transportation and we are proud to be part of the industry that works together to improve safety.”
All regularly scheduled airlines are subject to strict rules and regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“People can be very confident in one of those airlines,” Kristy Kiernan, associate director of the Center for Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told CNN.
Kiernan, a Coast Guard pilot for 12 years, said the number of incidents does not necessarily reflect unsafe airlines or plane makers, as many different factors lead to accidents.
“There were no incidents, no accidents, no fatal one year, and you have one crash,” she said. “For some people, the numbers are so small, so that's an infinite increase.”
There is a difference between perceptions of risk and risk, Keenan said. On social media, risk perception seems to be prevailing, even though people don't always have a line of things that come along with their claims.
“Risk perception can lead to anxiety, but the objective risk is very low as a passenger, no matter what airline you are on or what type of plane you are on, if you are flying in the domestic US airspace,” Keenan said.
Kianan said that due to the low spirit flights, people see fewer spirit accidents in FAA statements about aviation incidents. This makes it more difficult to conclude that spirit is actually safer than a major carrier. For example, there are around 700 flights per day in Spirit, while the Delta has 5,000 flights per day.
“If people understand part of the process of ensuring the safety of an airline, they will feel much better. That's everything from the initial certification of an airline to repeated certifications from the process that the airline is mandatory,” Kiernan said.
However, looking at just statistics and safety features is not enough to quell some fears. If that were the case, there would be no need to treat anxiety, Jonathan Bricker, an affiliate psychology professor at the University of Washington, told CNN.
The ways people deal with flight anxiety can manifest in a variety of ways, he added. Some people say that the brickers only book flights for a specific time, or fly non-stop only. Others choose to fly only on certain airlines.
And flight anxiety is often opposed to a single incident. Those who have been treated for flight anxiety will not come just for a specific plane crash. They already have flight anxiety, and many people who are terrified can also have other anxiety disorders, Bricker said.
Haddad, for example, generally regards himself as an uneasy flyer, saying he is scared, especially during takeoffs, landings and turbulence.
The fate of future cheap flights is in the air for the biggest fans.
In November, Spirit filed for bankruptcy due to increased losses, affordable debt, increased competition with airline passengers seeking bargains, and inability to merge with other airlines.
It continues to operate, but has been removed from the stock market and has cut 200 jobs.
Airlines have filed for bankruptcy historically and frequently, but could potentially be acquired or liquidated by another airline.
Spirit attempted to merge the two. One tried with Bargain Carrier Frontier Airlines and the other with JetBlue Airways, but the JetBlue deal was blocked by a federal judge on antitrust premises.
The carrier said it expects it will emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2025.
CNN's Chris Isidore and Olesya Dmitracova contributed to this report.
