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Organized Money: Who Killed Spirit Airlines?
The American Prospect
May 12, 2026 · 1 min listen
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Organized Money: Who Killed Spirit Airlines?
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Spirit Airlines is dead, and everyone is pointing fingers: Was it the war in Iran that killed Spirit? Joe Biden’s Justice Department? Antitrust regulation? Jet fuel? Lina Khan?! Today on the show, we demystify Spirit’s demise with William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. McGee is a longtime consumer advocate in the air travel space and has watched as the deregulation project, which began in the 1970s, has slowly whittled down competition, forming our current aviation oligopoly. McGee walks us through all the factors that led to Spirit’s liquidation—from jet fuel, to pricing squeeze from the Big Four airlines, to Trump’s proposed bailout and creditors seeking a payout. Despite the popular narratives you might hear on CNBC, Spirit’s undoing was multifaceted, with a history of blame going back 50 years, and many killers working in concert. Check out the white paper “How to Fix Flying: A New Approach to Regulating the Airline Industry,” by William McGee and Ganesh Sitaraman. (Note: Sitaraman is the chair of the Prospect’s board.) Listen via Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. The post Organized Money: Who Killed Spirit Airlines? appeared first on The American Prospect.
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