Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pushed back on suggestions that Spirit Airlines had to shut down because of rising fuel costs due to the war between the United States and Iran.
Gas and oil prices have risen sharply since the start of the Iran war, with the national average for a gallon of regular gas sitting at $4.433—a rise of around a dollar since the conflict started, and almost half a dollar more than it cost a month ago. Increased fuel costs can push costs of other goods and services higher, with experts already highlighting a jump in costs for construction and housing.
However, Duffy has denied that rising fuel costs as one of the main factors in the airline's apparent demise.
During a press conference on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, shortly after Spirit announced it would cease operations, the transportation secretary said: “Spirit was in dire straits long before the war with Iran."
"Their model wasn’t working. They couldn’t get to fiscal health, so this was not the impetus," Duffy said. "The war was not the impetus for Spirit."
However, Duffy's comments directly contradict those of Spirit Airlines' president and CEO Dave Davis, who said this week that "the sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the company."
The transportation secretary also highlighted the failed merger with JetBlue in 2024 that ultimately led to the first bankruptcy filing as one such factor to show the company's problems go much farther, and much deeper, than the impacts of the Iran war.
However, other figures have started to point to the high cost of fuel, which would prove problematic for a low-budget airline, as the main factor in the collapse.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, on X wrote: "Spiking fuel prices from Trump’s war was the nail in the coffin for twice-bankrupted Spirit airline. FWIW, JetBlue merger failed because a judge, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said the deal was illegal. Republicans are desperate to shift blame from higher costs hitting families."
And conservative commentator Ann Coulter agreed, writing on X that "it was high fuel costs that was the final death knell for Spirit -- caused by a pointless war that has left everyone worse off."
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Trump Admin and Spirit Failed to Approve Bailout
President Donald Trump had suggested his administration could give Spirit Airlines $500 million in exchange for roughly 90 percent control of the company, but no such deal materialized.
Duffy addressed the bailout issue, saying: "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."
He continued: "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," he added.