Spirit's new CEO: Fees stay, but service must improve

Spirit Airlines has been one of the USA’s fastest-growing airlines during the past few years. But it’s also become one of the most-complained about. Now, however, it appears the Florida-based “ultra low-cost carrier” is ready to adjust its course. That’s according to CEO Bob Fornaro, who took over at the carrier just last month after the unexpected ouster of previous CEO Ben Baldanza. Spirit has drawn the ire of many customers not only for its long list of fees, but also for recent operational struggles. Delayed and cancelled flights and mishandled bags have been particularly challenging.<br/>Fornaro said there are no plans to change Spirit’s fee-heavy business model, but he did say it's time to “focus on continuing to improve operational reliability and customer service.” “That is part of our business structure,” Fornaro said about the carrier’s strategy of rock-bottom fares with add-on fees. “The kind of complaints we want to remove is when we lose the bag we don't recover. Or when we have a four-hour delay and we don't get the customer where they need to go.”<br/>