United Airlines and Spirit Airlines are clashing over the future of ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) models.
While Spirit has thrived on this model, it filed for its second bankruptcy in under a year late last month.
Speaking at an industry conference on Thursday, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby predicted Spirit Airlines would soon be out of business.
“That is a fundamentally broken business model, and the consumer has voted. They are going out of business because customers do not like their product,” Kirby told moderator Brian Sumers, an airline industry journalist, according to APEX.
When asked how he was so confident in the prediction, Kirby said simply, “because I’m good at math.”
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The sentiment is similar to one that Kirby expressed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier in the week. During the summit, he called the ULCC model “an interesting experiment” that ultimately “failed,” Reuters reported.
“And it seems unlikely to me that Spirit can keep flying because their customers dislike the airline and don’t want to fly,” Kirby said on Tuesday.
Spirit Airlines fired back on X, saying, “Scott is finally right about something – it is all about customers. Our Guests love low fares, especially our new Spirit First and Premium Economy options. Maybe that’s why United executives can’t stop yapping about us.”
While the two airlines argue, recent actions by each of the companies could indicate where they are headed.
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Spirit Airlines announced earlier this month that it would be cutting several routes. The airline told FOX Business in a statement that it would end service to Albuquerque, N.M.; Birmingham, Ala.; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Columbia, S.C.; Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, Calif.; and San Jose, Calif., effective the week of Oct. 2. The airline will no longer launch service in Macon, Ga., which was scheduled to begin Oct. 16.
Meanwhile, around the same time, United Airlines announced it would capitalize on routes discontinued if Spirit goes out of business. Starting Jan. 6, 2026, United Airlines will have new routes to 15 cities, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Las Vegas, according to the airline.
United Airlines Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances Patrick Quayle took a swipe at Spirit in a statement on the added routes.
“If Spirit suddenly goes out of business, it will be incredibly disruptive, so we’re adding these flights to give their customers other options if they want or need them,” Quayle said.
When asked about Kirby’s comment about the airline going out of business, Spirit referred FOX Business to a previous statement made by Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications Duncan Dee.
In the statement, which was issued in response to Quayle’s comments, Dee accused United Airlines executives of being “obsessed” with the no-frills carrier. Dee added that Spirit Airlines was “focused on competing and running a great operation.”
It remains unclear whether Spirit will be able to continue offering passengers affordable travel options or if its yellow planes are doomed to be grounded.
FOX Business reached out to United Airlines for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
