This is old news and innacurate. According to their press release of July 3:
Routes to be cancelled indefinately:
FLL-Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
FLL-Long Island, NY
Routes that will now operate only seasonally:
FLL-Punta Cana, DR
FLL-Grand Cayman
-They will retire 5 A319 aircraft (despite the fact that they are brand new!! This will bring their fleet from 35 to 30)
-They are planning a huge layoff of flight attendants and pilots
-They plan to reduce non-fuel costs by 15% (I can't imagine where else they can cut)
-They plan to focus on increasing non-ticket revenue (increasing bag fees, charging for seat assignments)
PUJ flights should start again in the winter, but my guess is they won't go more than once or twice a week. My last flight from FLL-PUJ a few months ago there were only 53 passengers on the plane and if any of the other passengers took advantage of the $9 fare they were offering at the time like me, Im sure they weren't making a dime off that flight.(however, every FLL-SDQ flight I have ever been on has been completely full) Spirit is slowly moving away from the leisure market and expanding in the VFR market (South Floridians visiting friends and relatives in Latin America) , high density flights with passengers who have tons of luggage to charge fees on, and who will tolerate absolutely horrible service if it means being able to see their families a little more often.
