Spirit cuts Fort Myers flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity

Sep. 14—Spirit Airlines has eliminated its seasonal flights to Fort Myers, Fla., from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, on Tuesday confirmed the Unity airport's lone commercial carrier has slashed the route that over the past half-decade carried passengers on three flights a week to the Florida gulf coast town between November and May. The airline will continue to operate daily flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale and in November will resume daily flights to Tampa, Monzo said.

"If that's the worst we have, that's not too bad. A lot of airports around the country are struggling and dealing with delays and canceled flights. We've had some delays but not a lot of cancellations," Monzo said.

Elimination of the Fort Myers flights comes amid industry cutbacks that have seen airlines slash commercial routes nationwide.

No additional cuts are planned, according to Michael Lopardi, media relations manager for Spirit.

"We need to carry a lighter schedule at (Arnold Palmer airport) over the winter season due to some industry challenges, however, we can assure you that we committed to serving Latrobe. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and we look forward to resuming our usual level of operation," Lopardi wrote in an email.

Passenger levels at the county airport have decreased since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Ridership increased in 2021 but has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to the airport authority. Spirit reported a record high in passengers — nearly 310,000 — in 2019 and saw more than 243,000 last year. Through August, the airport recorded gate traffic at more than 178,000 passengers this year.

Jeff Pelletier, managing director of Dallas-based Airline Data Inc., said that since 2018, the Fort Myers flights from the Unity airport operated at average capacity of nearly 69%.

Arnold Palmer Regional remains in a good position despite the elimination of a quarter of the facility's fall and winter destinations, according to experts.

"The market remains healthy. They are doing better than other similarly-sized airports," Pelletier said. "Arnold Palmer seems to be holding its own. The passengers are there and continue to support the service."

Service cuts nationwide by multiple carriers have been pervasive over the last several months in large part caused by pilot and other personnel shortages, according to experts. Pelletier said staffing concerns most likely are to blame for the eliminated Fort Myers route.

Pelletier said data indicate Fort Myers was Spirit's weakest performing route at the airport. The remaining routes are projected to be strong performers through the end of the year, he said.

The reduced service comes as airport officials face an uncertain future following this summer's announcement of a pending $3.8 billion deal for JetBlue to purchase Spirit Airlines.

Monzo said there are no details yet about how that deal will impact Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, but he remains hopeful it will not negatively impact operations. Because of the eliminated Fort Myers route, passenger levels will remain below 2019 levels, he said.

"It's certainly not going to help, but we are optimistic things will turn around," Monzo said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .