Zachary LeemanMay 2nd, 2026, 10:46 am

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy denied that rising fuel costs were the “impetus” behind Spirit Airlines abruptly shutting down this week.

Duffy held a press conference in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday shortly after Spirit Airlines announced it was ceasing operations following failed attempts to reach a deal with the federal government to remain open. Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis spoke with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday about a potential bailout and President Donald Trump said on Friday he hoped a deal could be reached, but the company ultimately decided to immediately end operations.

Davis placed a lot of blame on fuel costs rising amid the Iran war and he warned other airlines may not be far behind, as far as financially struggling to keep up. Spirit filed for bankruptcy twice in the last year. A potential merger with JetBlue was blocked by a federal judge and ultimately terminated in 2024.

“Everybody burning cash—we just had a smaller pile to start with,” Davis said. “They’re not that far behind us in the race.”

Duffy argued Spirit had been in “dire straights” long before the Iran war and their business model simply wasn’t working anymore.

“Their model wasn’t working. They couldn’t get to fiscal health. So this was not the impetus. The war was not the impetus for Spirit,” Duffy said after being asked about airlines across the board struggling to keep up with rising costs.

Duffy also addressed a request by airlines for a bailout, which he argued it not “necessary” at the moment.

He said:

I would say that at this point I don’t think it’s necessary. They do have access to cash. If they want to come to the U.S. government, we would be a lender of last resort. If they can find dollars in the private markets, I think that’s better for them if there was a need across the low-cost carriers who had made this request. Again, there’s not $2.5 billion that sits around in Congress that the Executive Branch can fund a bailout for those airlines. That would have to be a conversation that does happen with Congress, and there would to be a real need and so sometimes what can happen is when there’s a conversation about cleared airlines and a potential bailout, if you will. What other airlines see is an opportunity. Is this an opportunity for us to get money as well to help our airline out? Not necessarily based on need, but based on opportunity.

Watch above via Fox News.

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