Spirit Airlines' on-time performance giving big carriers reason to worry

Spirit suddenly is giving the big four domestic carriers something to really worry about. The carrier finished October with 87.1% of its flights arriving on time, putting Spirit ahead of even top performer Delta with 86.3%. Spirit’s performance was also nearly 3 percentage points better than that of United and more than 3 percentage points better than Southwest. In an industry where on-time performance is important to many consumers, Spirit is suddenly performing at a remarkably high level. Spirit has big expansion plans, planning to add 125 new routes and 60 new aircraft over the next five years, ensuring the carrier will continue to be a threat to the four major domestic carriers for some time to come.<br/>