From tardy to on-time: Spirit Airlines tries to shed old image

Spirit Airlines, once the most likely to show up late or cancel a flight, is trying a new tactic: punctuality. Spirit was on time more often than any other US airline in October, according to the latest available govt data. This year its flights have been on time nearly 81% of the time, besting rivals including American Airlines and United Continental. Fliers still gripe about Spirit to the federal govt at a higher rate than they do about almost any other airline. But the complaint rate in the first 9 months of this year was down 75% from the same period in 2015, the first year the govt tracked such figures for Spirit. “We’re shedding some of the negatives we earned—justifiably earned—5 or 6 years ago,” said CE Bob Fornaro. <br/>