ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Spirit Airlines has shut down for good, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and hundreds of employees without jobs including people across Metro Detroit.
The Spirit check-in area at Metro Airport in Romulus sat empty with not a customer or staff member in sight.
Taylor resident Kelsie Duarard was a flight attendant for Spirit Airlines for nearly 10 years. Early Saturday morning, she and thousands of other flight attendants received a notice that Spirit Airlines was shutting down for good.
"We finally got the letter, the confirmation, like that was it… I just started crying," Duarard said.
"To not have the heads up to even know to look for another job and now you're just kind of down and out. Our union is fighting for us and I hope we can get something going," Duarard said.
Passengers are also feeling the impact. Flat Rock resident Sue Kerstetter's family had traveled to Houston for a robotics competition and was expecting to fly back home to Michigan on Spirit. Instead, she and her family decided to drive more than 20 hours to get back home.
"We were actually excited because we got a good deal on a round trip and we never thought in a million years, this would happen," Kerstetter said.
Brendan Sichak was on the last Spirit flight that came into Michigan Friday night.
"Not too much different about it, the passenger, not so much, even the flight attendants, I asked them when we got on the flight, I said 'are you guys nervous' and they said we really don't know too much about what's going on," Sichak said.
As for Duarard, she said she hopes the airline finds a way to return.
"Oh yeah, this is my dream job, I was only 22 when I got the job and it just felt unreal," Duarard said.
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