Flights on Spirit Airlines from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity to Myrtle Beach International Airport are scheduled to resume May 5, about a month sooner than expected.
“We are hoping that this flight starting back up is the beginning of something big,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority.
The Myrtle Beach airport reported the return of the non-stop flights, which stopped the first week of November and were not projected to return until mid-June.
Fights to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also ended, leaving the airport outside of Latrobe with only one flight a day in and out of Orlando.
Industry experts have speculated that staffing, pilot and air-traffic controller shortages were underlying factors in the declines.
“For whatever reasons, there was a lot of concern from our passengers,” Monzo said. “But we have been holding at about 75% capacity.”
JetBlue Airways Corp. announced plans in July 2022 to merge with Spirit in a $3.8 billion deal after Frontier Airlines’ deal to merge with Spirit fell apart. Frontier’s offer to Spirit was $1 billion less than JetBlue’s offer. The airlines expect federal aviation regulators will approve the deal next year, with the merged airline beginning operations in 2025, according to published reports.
Spirit shareholders approved the deal in October.
