Spirit to halt all flights as of early Saturday

Spirit Airlines is set to announce in the coming hours that that it will halt flying as of 3 am ET Saturday, according to two sources familiar with its plans, making it the first significant US airline to halt operations in nearly 25 years. The shutdown comes as soaring jet fuel prices derailed its plans to emerge from its second bankruptcy. Efforts to reach a deal with the Trump administration on an 11th hour rescue package that was also acceptable to a key group of creditors proved unsuccessful Friday. The decision will leave millions of passengers holding Spirit tickets in coming months scrambling to make other travel arrangements and put 17,000 Spirit employees out of a job. Eliminating the airline’s flights is also likely to raise fares across the entire US airline industry. This is a developing story. It will be updated. Below is a version of the story from earlier in the day Friday: President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that the administration will likely announce its decision on whether to bail out Spirit Airlines “today or tomorrow.” The long-troubled budget carrier is preparing to stop operations, according to reports on Friday, a move that