A Spirit Airlines plane taxis to a runway at Orlando International Airport Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
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.
Canopy Growth reported a wider-than-expected loss in its fourth quarter and fiscal year results. However, the cannabis company plans to expand its portfolio and make new investments to achieve profitability and drive growth. CEO David Klein provides insight into the earnings report and how the company plans to reach profitability. “The premium strategy coupled with our mainstream brands in Canada is the key to achieving profitability here," he said.
An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve rose 6.3% in April from a year earlier, just below a four-decade high set in March and the first slowdown since November 2020.
U.S. stocks ended near session highs to close Thursday's session after retailers released positive earnings results. Investors also continued to weigh the federal reserve's recent indication that the central will raise rates in an effort to curb inflation. Adam Johnson, Portfolio Manager for Adviser Investments, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
In Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the SEC violated the U.S. Constitution. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo dives into how the ruling could potentially change everything for regulators.
Pfizer said it will be shipping its vaccines at not-for-profit prices to 45 low-income countries. The pharmaceutical giant will be exporting 23 drugs, including those that treat cancer, heart conditions, autoimmune diseases, as well as COVID-19.
Elon Musk officially dropped out of the $200 billion club.
The move comes as Tesla's stock continues to plummet as a number of banks and analysts reconsider their lofty valuation of the automaker. Greg Martin, Co-Founder, Rainmaker Securities joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
On today's Biz Breakdown: Elon Musk ups his offer to buy Twitter, Pfizer drops vaccine cost for some lower income countries, and Oreo & Ritz team up to create a cracker-cookie Sandwich
Catching you up on today's top stories with Elon Musk raising his own commitment to purchasing Twitter with $33.5 billion, Apple plans to produce 220 million iPhones this year, and the company also is raising its hourly retail wage to $22 per hour amid ongoing unionization efforts at its stores.