Higher air fares as Spirit's low-price floor vanishes

The cheapest one-way seat from Fort Lauderdale to Kingston cost US$107 when Spirit Airlines was flying. Today, it starts at about US$157 — nearly 50 per cent more — based on current fares on online aggregators. 

That gap, visible in cached and recent pricing data captured before and after Spirit's May 2 shutdown, illustrates what aviation economists call the ‘Spirit effect — the removal of the competitive pressure that kept every other carrier's fares in check on the same route.

When Spirit ceased operations, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Department of Transportation had coordinated an agreement with United, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and American to cap ticket prices for displaced Spirit customers — generally requiring a Spirit confirmation number and proof of payment. Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air also stepped in independently: Frontier offered up to 50 per cent off base fares across its entire network through May 10, open to any traveller, while Allegiant froze fares on overlapping routes. Those windows are now closing.

Spirit represents just under 3.0 per cent of passengers to the island, stated Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett last week. “That’s some 30,000 to 40,000 summer seats,” he said at the time. 

He was unfazed, noting that Fort Lauderdale is well served by competing carriers. "We anticipate that they will pick up the passenger load that Spirit was projected to move," he added.

Volume, however, is only part of the story. The harder question is what travellers now pay for that seat.

A 30 to 50 per cent increase in the floor price on Fort Lauderdale routes — before peak summer demand arrives.    

Spirit's last documented round-trip fare on Expedia for the Fort Lauderdale–Montego Bay route was US$324; the same search on Friday returned US$430 on JetBlue — a 33 per cent increase on the island's busiest US gateway. On the Fort Lauderdale–Kingston route, Spirit's last recorded round-trip was US$302, according to Travelocity; and on Priceline it was US$107.

Business Insider found that airfares rose an average of about 14 per cent across roughly 90 routes Spirit exited in 2024 and 2025. CBS News reported that average round-trip fares rose about 23 per cent — roughly US$60 — when Spirit exited a route, alongside a decline in passenger volume. The common thread: Spirit's absence can remove a low-fare anchor, leaving competitors more room to price upward, particularly during peak periods. The early Fort Lauderdale data suggests that the increase on Jamaica routes may already be running ahead of those averages.

JetBlue has moved aggressively to fill the vacuum, announcing plans to expand to some 130 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale — a 75 per cent increase versus 2025 — including 11 new routes launching from July 2026. Whether that added capacity holds fares in check or gets absorbed at higher prices as summer demand builds is the open question for Jamaica's tourism sector. 

Tourism is Jamaica's leading industry, and air access is the pipeline that feeds hotel rooms, attractions, and small businesses across the island. Spirit's Jamaica footprint was heavily Florida-linked. Pacific Airport Group, which operates Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and manages Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston under concession, told investors that Spirit had accounted for about 2.6 per cent of Montego Bay traffic and 3.5 per cent of Kingston traffic, concentrated on Florida routes including Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Orlando.

carolyn.guniss@rjrgleanerjm.com

Caption: A Spirit Airlines 319 Airbus approaches Manchester Boston Regional Airport for a landing, June 2, 2023, in Manchester, USA. (AP Photo)