Spirit Airlines bankruptcy filing not expected to impact service at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) - Spirit Airlines announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will attempt to reboot itself as a company.
Spirit not only has a large operation at Pittsburgh International Airport, but it is the sole carrier at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe.
Dozens of people were waiting to book flights with Spirit on Monday afternoon at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. By all accounts, it was business as usual.
The small booking counter at Arnold Palmer is one of the airline's busiest in the country, and for folks like Tamara Collazzo of Indiana, Pa., reserving flights in person at the airport is the only way to book.
"I love the people in there, they make me laugh," said Collazzo. "They're such good people. They work with you, and they take the time to help you save money and get to places. Otherwise, I wouldn't be traveling."
While you can reserve a ticket at Arnold Palmer's Spirit counter to fly anywhere with the airline, currently, the airport operates one daily direct to Orlando, Florida, and one seasonal daily direct to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. These flights are a boon to the local community and generate an economic impact of $226 million annually for the region.
Gabe Monzo, the Executive Director of the Westmorland County Airport Authority, says there was talk of Spirit going into bankruptcy protection over the last few weeks. While he admits that chatter was a little unsettling, he says that this will likely be a good thing for both the airline and the airport's partnership with them.
"I mean, 'bankruptcy' is a scary word," said Monzo. "It shakes people up, but that's the way you got to do business sometimes. So, we'll hang on for the ride."
Monzo says they have been in direct contact with Spirit, and that the airline remains committed to the airport. Monzo says they are staffing more people at the reservation counter to help the airline continue to book and to come out stronger on the other side.
If fliers like Spirit and the flights they operate from the airport, the best way to help keep the service is to keep buying tickets, Monzo adds.
"We are committed to Spirit," Monzo said. "We think that they're doing the right thing. They are doing what they have to do. That's their business, not our business. Our business is to try and keep them strong and we are going to do everything we can in our power to make that happen."