Spirit anticipates positive earnings in 2021

Spirit Airlines is optimistic that it will be one of the first carriers to pull out of the coronavirus-driven industry crisis as leisure travellers begin to return and book vacations in greater numbers. The Miramar, Florida-headquartered ultra low-cost carrier says on 21 April that even though it had widened its loss for the first quarter to $112.3 million, demand had picked up in the final weeks of the period. Last year, the company posted a $27.8m loss in the first quarter, as the Covid-19 pandemic was just beginning to make itself felt in the industry. For 2020, the airline reported a full-year loss of $507.8m. “We were very pleased to see how well both our domestic and international network performed as demand strengthened in the last few weeks of the quarter,” says Ted Christie, the airline’s chief executive. “This strength, along with improvement in forward bookings, drove positive cash from operations for the full first quarter 2021.”<br/>