Spirit Airlines, the infamous yellow budget airline that competed against major carriers for over three decades, turned off its engines for the final time early Saturday morning.

Company officials announced that the airline, which employed more than 17,000 people, has gone out of business and ceased operations “effective immediately” after it was unable to secure enough funding from the federal government.

“It is with great disappointment that on May 2, 2026, Spirit Airlines started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately,” the company wrote in a statement to its website.