United cashing in on rival after bankrupt Spirit Airlines axes flights to 11 cities

United Airlines on Thursday rushed to cash in on rival Spirit Airlines’ financial troubles, beefing up its footprint in the bankrupt discount carrier’s main markets, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Las Vegas, as Frontier Group announced new routes to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Florida-based Spirit Airlines, which filed for its second bankruptcy protection last week, has been shrinking its operations and retreating from a number of markets, which has opened up an opportunity for rivals.

The company said it has discontinued service to 11 US cities, including Portland, Oregon, and San Diego, and no longer plans to launch service to Macon, Georgia, which was scheduled to start in mid-October.

“As part of our efforts to transform our business and position Spirit for long-term success, we are adjusting our network to focus on our strongest performing markets,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

United will start selling tickets on Thursday for new flights to 15 cities where Spirit operates.

The Chicago-based airline said it will fly larger aircraft between Chicago and New York LaGuardia to help customers outside of its hubs connect to the newly added flights.

“If Spirit suddenly goes out of business, it will be incredibly disruptive, so we’re adding these flights to give their customers other options if they want or need them,” said Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances.

Frontier introduced 20 new flights to Spirit’s strongholds in late August. On Thursday, the low-cost carrier announced 22 more routes, increasing its service in the US, the Caribbean, and Latin America, including launching service to the Turks and Caicos.

“We expect these carriers to continue to see a sizable benefit from Spirit’s retrenchment, despite having less total overlap,” TD Cowen analyst Tom Fitzgerald wrote in a note this week.