Ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines will add new flights from DFW International Airport to Mexico beach spot Puerto Vallarta in July, part of a wave of expansions to capture leisure travelers.
Taking aim at the largest U.S. hub for American Airlines, Spirit will start the three-times-weekly flights from DFW to Puerto Vallarta on July 1, giving the Florida-based carrier 21 nonstop destinations from DFW. With the new move, Spirit will operate up to 30 daily flights from DFW, said Spirit vice president of network planning John Kirby.
“A lot of this isn’t only adapting to the new demand curves of leisure travel, but some of it is adding things from 2020 that we weren’t able to get to because of the pandemic,” Kirby said.
Long teased as a low-cost, low-quality airline, Spirit has emerged from the pandemic aggressively and now touts some of the industry’s best performance and reliability numbers. The airline ranked only behind Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines in terms of on-time performance last year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The DFW-Puerto Vallarta flight is part of a slew of new flights Spirit announced across its network on Wednesday, including flights to Puerto Vallarta from Houston and Los Angeles. Spirit also added seven other flights from Los Angeles International Airport, part of its growing effort to connect people to vacation destinations.
Low-cost carriers have moved aggressively during the pandemic while legacy carriers struggled to adapt networks to the downturn in flying. But the types of travelers flying during the pandemic, mainly leisure and younger passengers, were already the prime audience for Spirit.
And Mexico has been among the biggest targets for airlines for summer travel as passengers look for outdoor spots without travel restrictions. In fact, airlines have nearly 120 flights a day from DFW Airport to Mexico scheduled in July, which would be the most in the airport’s history.
Spirit already flies from DFW to Mexico’s Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. To compare, Fort Worth-based American flies to 26 destinations in Mexico from DFW.
Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, has seen large crowds in recent weeks with spring break in the United States and the upcoming Easter weekend, according to Puerto Vallarta Daily News.
But Spirit is often aiming at a different audience, with its a-la-carte service that charges for carry-on bags, more legroom, boarding passes, changing flights and other “extras.” But Spirit makes up for it with lower prices, often about 50% lower than larger airline competitors.
Spirit has been working for more than five years to improve its on-time ratings and other reliability measures, Kirby said.
“You save money by being efficient,” he said.
Now the airline is ready to grow even more coming out of the pandemic. Spirit flies to 60 destinations in the U.S., about a third of the number that American does.
That gives the airline room to grow while still focusing on connecting passengers to vacation spots, Kirby said. For Midwest travelers, that means flying somewhere like Texas or California during the winter months, while Texas travelers often escape somewhere like Mexico.
“Other airlines are now playing in our sandbox and we are good at what we do,” Kirby said.
