A cautionary tale about spirit airlines

What happened a few weeks ago with Spirit airlines is maybe a little dispiriting (pun intended) for several specific reasons: we lost a low cost carrier that drove the competition to keep pricing down, there were many thousands of workers who were laid off, and we got a not-so-great lesson in economics.

Its that lesson that I wanted to talk about.  Spirit was a Fort Lauderdale - based airline, and that made it an employer of note in my hometown.  Did I love them?  No.  Had I ever flown them?  Also no.  But they drove some amount of economy here locally. 

Sometime around 2016, Frontier looked to acquire them, but the price point was too low, and the shareholders rejected that.  Then, in 2022, there was a much-hyped offer for JetBlue to acquire them. This one was complicated.  It wasn't entirely clear what JetBlue would get out of it, other than adding planes and some routes to its portfolio.  But it wasn't.a great fit and there was internal strife, and several rejections by shareholders and the board was also wwrking to reject it.

Ultimately, it was nixed by the Biden-era DOJ who said that allowing them to merge would raise prices and stifle competition.  To be fair, if the DOJ had allowed it to proceed, its still possible (maybe even likely) that the board of JetBlue would have killed the deal anyway.  But, sure, lets "blame it on Biden" ...

The thing that was clear 4 years ago was that without a change, Spirit would not be able to continue operation for very long.  It was a well-known fact that they needed operating capital in an ever-changing landscape.

Enter private equity in around 2024, who bought stakes in the airline and helped manage it along, with an intent to have it sold somewhere.  

But it still wasn't enough, and in early 2026, Spirit needed an influx of capital.  The airline and the private equity ownership asked the government for a bailout. 

The T-rump administration asked for a 90% stake in the company, which would make it government owned.  The board of Spirit wasn't aligned with that.  And that private equity firm said no thanks; there would be little return for them.

So they declared bankruptcy, and are selling their planes, and their routes to other airlines (notably: JetBlue).  And in the end, they. went out of business and we lost a low-cost airline anyway.  Based on the desire to have it be state run, its funny that almost no one is saying "blame it on T-rump" and point back to the failed merger as their reason for the bankruptcy.

But its as much the problem of private equity as anything.

Is sad that the media can't wrap their head around all that's happened here.  The debt should get mostly paid off, but the private equity firm will also get a nice payout for their "help" ... and as always, we consumers get screwed. 

We seem to have forgotten our humanity …

I was standing in line the other day with a friend while we were waiting to order an ice cream. 

And as we waited, we each struck up conversations with the people in line around us. Just random talk. It was so unusual in this day and age that it caught my attention. 

But WHY did it feel so unusual? Because we’ve lost that human connection with our noses buried in our phones (and no, the irony of me writing this online isn’t lost on me). We don’t often have that moment to talk, smile, and laugh with a complete stranger.  

My grandfather was always one to talk with anyone about anything (he was pretty proud of his ability to yak with anyone and would say the most ridiculous lines to engage with people). I have that skill, too, but it doesn’t come out as often as I’d like anymore. 

Our society is weird that way. So much technology. You can’t just pick up the phone and call a company or a store and talk with someone. These kids today mostly text and will only call when it necessary.  It’s about not knowing your neighbors the same way. (Not that knowing them too well is a good thing sometimes)

I was remembering a story from years ago. They were installing the first automated toll booths on a few highways. And the Miami Herald interviewed some people who lamented the move to automation because it lacks that personal touch. And one couple talked about their “meet cute” moment. He drove through the same toll booth every day, and she was the toll collector. Their interactions were but a few moments every day, but they ultimately went on a date and they were at-that-time happily married. 

While that didn’t happen often, it was a chance for a small amount of human interaction. I would chat with the toll workers, say something fun, and sometimes in a random act of kindness I’d hand them double the amount of the toll and say it was for me and the car behind me. The person in the car behind me, who I didn’t know, would now have to interact with the person and had a moment to tell their friends about. 

We are missing out on that sort of thing all the time now. 

I guess my message here is that we each have an opportunity to do something more personal. Talk to that person in line next to you. Talk to the worker in the store. If you do manage to get someone on the phone, ask how their day is, and where they are located. Tell a terrible dad joke randomly to a stranger. Be kind. Practice a random act of kindness. 

We can be better. And it starts with each of as individuals. 

The world is difficult sometimes

And when I’m “feeling it,” I think about this infamous diddy from Monty Python. It’s sung during the crucifixion scene in “Life of Brian.”

https://youtu.be/X_-q9xeOgG4?si=HKCdJP8rstDzo6c5

 

Whilst trying to come up with a way of ending the film Monty Python's Life of Brian, Eric Idle wrote an original version of the song on a Gibson J-50 guitar using only jazz chords he learnt from a course by Mickey Baker. Originally the song was sung in a more straight fashion, which the other Python members eventually agreed would be good enough for the end of the film. However, Michael Palin noted in his diary for 16 June 1978 that during a script meeting, "Eric's two songs—'Otto' and the 'Look on the Bright Side' crucifixion song—are rather coolly received before lunch." Despite being initially underwhelmed, the group warmed to Idle's efforts and the song was retained. While practising during a break in filming, Idle found that it worked better if sung in a more cheeky manner by a character of his called "Mr Cheeky", which in turn was based on the film's Cockney lighting crew. This new version was used in the film and became one of Monty Python's most famous compositions.

Newton’s law of gravity passes its biggest test ever | Science | AAAS

The inverse square law proves to be true in large expanses. That’s pretty amazing. 

I guess you could (but probably shouldn’t) say that Newton was a really smart cookie. 

https://www.science.org/content/article/newton-s-law-gravity-passes-its-biggest-test-ever

How a pot left on the stove overnight inspired a teen’s winning science fair project

Another young person for the win!

This young lady created a simple method for keeping someone from leaving the stove on. 

Yay, science! Yay, critical thinking! 

https://youtu.be/sck2CCI7EUg

Deep-Earth map reveals a lost U.S. continent | Science | AAAS

This is kind of a cool story about how an array of sensors have been put to use, and once scientists reviewed the data, they have concluded that there is a piece of a continent jammed under the eastern seaboard of the US. 

Their modeling suggests that this happens when Pangea was broken apart, and this is why we have some mountain ranges, in the Appalachian trail. 

It’s pretty cool. 

https://www.science.org/content/article/deep-earth-map-reveals-lost-u-s-continent

New Chinese Iron Battery Lasts 16 Years, and Could Upend the $150B Lithium Market | OilPrice.com

I like the leap forward here. A Chinese team has developed an iron-based battery (rather than lithium), which is cheaper to produce, stores energy more efficiently, and lasts many cycles longer than a lithium battery. 

And that’s all before we even mention the environmental impact. 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/New-Chinese-Iron-Battery-Lasts-16-Years.html