Florida airline offering free flights on Sept. 11

Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Spirit Airlines announced yesterday that all its flights on Sept. 11 will be free, saying the offer is a response to travelers' reluctance to fly on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Calling it "a day of freedom to travel," Spirit CEO Jacob Schorr said: "The sky should be full of Americans on that day. This will show that we're not a nation that can easily be brought down."

He said he hopes other airlines will follow suit.

American and United, the two biggest U.S. carriers, have said they are cutting back their Sept. 11 schedules because of weak bookings. No. 3 Delta is trimming flights Sept. 9-13. Several European airlines have canceled Sept. 11 flights to the United States.

Spirit has 90 scheduled flights on Sept. 11, with more than 13,000 seats — a typical number for a weekday, Schorr said.

The Fort Lauderdale-based airline's bookings for that day were down before the announcement. Sept. 11 customers who already paid for tickets will get credit for a future flight.

Travelers can take as many flights as they want on Sept. 11, but tickets must be reserved by Sept. 8.

If the second leg of a round-trip flight is on another day, there will be no one-way penalty: The cost will be half of the round-trip fare.

Spirit Airlines serves Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Orlando; Atlantic City, N.J.; Oakland, Calif.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; New York; Chicago; Detroit; Denver; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.