Final Spirit Airlines flight ever flew out of Detroit Metro Airport
Thirty-four years of Spirit Airlines came to an end with Flight NK1833 from Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, according to a Spirit Airlines spokesperson.
The last passengers to ever fly Spirit departed from Detroit Metropolitan Airport around 10 p.m. Friday, May 1, and landed at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport minutes after midnight on Saturday, May 2, according to a flight tracker
Spirit announced its suspension of operations early in the morning on Saturday, May 2. All flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available.
In the final day of operations, the airline flew more than 50,000 passengers, according to the news release, and 17,000 direct and indirect employees lost their jobs.
Brendan Sichak, 26, of Fenton, was one of the final Spirit passengers to fly into Detroit. He departed from Fort Lauderdale at 9:27 p.m. on Friday and landed in Detroit at 12:04 a.m. on Saturday. He documented his experience on Facebook and YouTube.
The Spirit Airlines check-in at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
He said he was aware it could be one of the last Spirit flights but didn't know for sure. With people traveling like normal and sleeping on the plane, he said it didn't seem much different than a typical flight.
Sichak said he had a Spirit credit card and about $800 of flight credit built up over the years. He’s heard people say, “If you fly Spirit, you’ll become a Spirit,” but in over 40 flights, he felt safe and rarely saw plane delays, he said.
“It sucks knowing that I’m going to have to build up loyalty with a new airline,” Sichak said. “It’s honestly scary because Spirit was significantly cheaper for content creators like myself where we’re pretty much putting all the money that we make back into our content every month and not knowing where our next paycheck's going to come from. It’s really nice being able to just have Spirit as the budget friendly airline.”
Spirit will automatically issue refunds for any flights purchased through Spirit with a credit or debit card to the original form of payment, according to the news release. Passengers who booked through a travel agent should contact the travel agent directly for the refund. Compensation for passengers who booked through other methods, including a voucher or credit or Free Spirit points, will be determined at a later date through the bankruptcy process.
Saturday morning, the airline counter in the Evans Terminal of the Detroit Metro Airport was empty except for news reporters filming the scene. Travelers with other air carriers walked by the empty area to check in.
Contact Natalie Davies at [email protected].
