Retiring Spirit Airlines pilot is surprised with a very emotional send-off after his final flight was canceled due to airline shutting down

Spirit Airlines was the first casualty of the ongoing fuel crisis, and the airline’s demise set in motion a series of events, some of which were not so bad.

Partly due to the uncanny timing, this retiring Spirit Airlines pilot received a surprise send-off that he probably wouldn’t have received otherwise.

What was supposed to be his final flight was canceled, and this resulted in something he’ll remember forever.

There’s a lot of grey in the sky right now; this was at least a silver lining.

Why this pilot received this unique send-off

Aviation works in mysterious ways, which probably explains why a retiring pilot is often greeted in a way that’s not necessarily afforded to other retiring professionals.

They occasionally get to perform incredible stunts, and they also receive the iconic water cannon salute.

This Spirit Airlines pilot got an even more emotional send-off message, and there are two things that made this unique and potentially unlikely to happen again.

First, he received a send-off from a rival airline, Southwest Airlines.

Second, his send-off message came in earlier than expected because, by pure coincidence, his final flight was cancelled because the company he worked for went bust.

You can’t make that up.

The situation (especially for Spirit) isn’t great, but this pilots smile will brighten your day.

Spirit might be the tip of the iceberg

The potential fuel crisis made things worse for companies that were already struggling and, in the US, that includes a lot of low-cost carriers.

For various reasons, the low-cost model never really took off in the US, not in the same way it did in Europe.

Ironically, this happened for the exact same reasons low-cost carriers work in Europe, but in reverse.

In Europe, the low-cost model works well because of high population density and short distances between major capitals, as well factors like pricing, and travel habits.

In the US, those same factors work against the low-cost model, not in favor of it.

On average, salaries in Europe are much lower than they are in the US, and so the low-cost model was a necessity, and it filled a huge gap in the market because flag carriers were too expensive.

Also, low-cost carriers are great for connecting major cities that aren’t too far apart: London to Paris, Barcelona to Milan, and so on.

In the US, travel habits are different, and major cities are generally further apart.

So Spirit was the first to cease operations, but it might not be the last.