Spirit Airlines canceled about 100 flights on Friday after pulling some planes out of service for inspections, and the airline expects the disruptions to last several days.

Spirit did not describe the nature of the inspections and did not respond when asked for further information.

By Friday afternoon, Spirit had canceled 11% of its schedule for the day, easily the highest percentage of scrubbed flights among leading U.S. carriers, according to tracking service FlightAware.

“We’ve cancelled a portion of our scheduled flights to perform a necessary inspection of a small section of 25 of our aircraft,” Spirit said in a statement. “The impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete the inspections and work to return to normal operations.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was aware of Spirit's decision to pull the planes from service for a “mandatory maintenance inspection." The FAA did not describe the inspections either, but said it "will ensure that the matter is addressed before the airplanes are returned to service.”

Spirit had 198 planes as of June 30, all of them variants of the Airbus A320 family, according to a company regulatory filing.

The airline told customers to check the status of their flight before going to the airport.

About half of the Spirit cancellations were at Florida’s Orlando International Airport, where Spirit is the second-largest carrier.

Spirit, which is based in Miramar, Florida, has canceled more than 3,600 flights this year, or 1.5% of its schedule. That is lower than the 2% cancellation rate at Frontier Airlines, a similar budget carrier, and rates for JetBlue Airways and United Airlines.

Share:
More In Business
Walmart Ramps Up Warehouse Tech to Compete With Amazon on Rapid Delivery, Scale
Walmart, which last month reported lackluster earnings, is making a big bet on enhancing its warehouse technology. The big box giant will open new facilities that use automation in order to fill more orders and deliver them within a competitive timeframe, like same-day or two-day delivery in order to compete with e-commerce king Amazon. Will these efforts give Walmart an advantage, and maybe even help it beat Amazon in multiple categories? Arun Sundaram, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Major Business Leaders Voice Concern About Economy, But One Advisor Says They're Not Anxious Enough
Major business leaders are taking in the current U.S. economic backdrop — including inflation and a first-quarter GDP contraction — and voicing pessimistic outlooks about what the economy will do. Meanwhile, the question on everyone's mind is still whether or not we will enter a recession, and when. Mike 'Mish' Shedlock, an investment advisor at Sitka Pacific Capital Management, says on Closing Bell that business leaders aren't anxious enough, and that it's likely the U.S. will enter a recession early in the third quarter of this year.
LA Rams Star Cooper Kupp on Partners With Pataday to Take on Seasonal Allergies
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp is partnering with eye-drop brand Pataday to help those struggling with allergies — such as himself. The Super Bowl LVI MVPjoined Cheddar News to discuss his own struggle with seasonal allergies. “It's right when football's starting back up, I feel like I get so excited to finally be back playing the game, and then, you know, spring comes around and completely knocks me out," he said.
Stock of the Week: Meta's Many Changes and Uncertain Future
After a week of changes including a ticker change and longtime COO Sheryl Sandberg stepping down, Meta's future may seem uncertain. Cheddar News anchors Kristen Scholer and Ken Buffa broke it all down a the stock dropped around 4 percent on Friday amid a flurry of speculation around the company formerly known as Facebook.
Buy Now, Pay Later Services Might Be Complicating Your Credit
Buy now, pay later — or point-of-sales loans — might be making it difficult to get a handle on your credit. These companies typically do not report payment history during transactions, so without this data going to credit scoring companies, it makes it difficult to know how many loans a customer still needs to pay. Experts are recommend paying off these debts as soon as possible.
Load More