The Air Current
• Jon Ostrower
IATA warns Spirit won’t be last as affordable-airline profits halve; United studies failure lessons to protect margins while the
IATA is forecasting further distress among low-cost, “affordable” carriers in 2026, warning Spirit’s collapse may not be an outlier. A widening cost squeeze is set against a demand environment that is increasingly bifurcated—pressuring ULCC unit economics even as some competitors reposition on higher-value products.
