Spirit Airlines planes on the tarmac at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 07, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Spirit Airlines reported a second-quarter loss as strong travel demand and higher fares weren’t enough to overcome a surge in costs.
Spirit reported results less than two weeks after it announced it agreed to sell itself to JetBlue Airways for $3.8 billion, ending a monthslong bidding war for Spirit between JetBlue and Frontier Airlines.
Miramar, Florida-based Spirit posted a net loss of $52.4 million for the three months ended June 30. Revenue rose nearly 35% from pre-pandemic 2019 to almost $1.37 billion. Expenses soared more than 66% compared with three years ago. Its fuel bill more than doubled.
Passengers were paying more to fly, however, with revenue per passenger, per flight up more than 24% from 2019 to $140.61,…
