Frontier and Spirit Airlines: Did Overly Ambitious Growth Shape Their Present Struggles?

Following an intense few weeks of United States-based airlines releasing their Q1 2024 results, the earnings reports detailed that out of the top ten largest US carriers, per Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) rankings, six airlines ended the period with a negative operating margin. The following table does not include SkyWest Airlines, a regional operator for several US carriers, ranked ninth by the BTS.