Spirit discount airlines comes to the Rochester airport

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Spirit Airlines will start daily non-stop flights out of Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport to Orlando, Florida on Wednesday.   The discount airline is finally launching the service after several months of delays. 

The first Spirit flight into Rochester arrives Tuesday night. The first flight out of Rochester is on Wednesday. Right now, there will be flights daily to Orlando, Florida and if all goes well, the airline is hoping to add non-stop flights to Myrtle Beach in the Spring/Summer of 2023.

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The airline was supposed to launch here back in June but it was delayed due to staffing shortages. “We are constantly looking at how we can best serve our guests and looking at the networking schedule, for the summer we made some proactive decisions to adjust the schedule knowing that we still were going to be interested in coming to Rochester and here we are today,” says Jason Fogelman, the Senior Director of Airport Innovations, Standards and Training at Spirit Airlines. 

“At this point, the industry in general is highly focused on making sure we have all the right resources in place.  We have a dedicated workforce and we’re continually looking to not just grow the workforce but we’re growing the airline so, we’re doing well and continuing to focus on hiring new pilots and flight attendants but we have a good rhythm,” Fogelman told News10NBC. 

Airport Director Andy Moore says just Spirit’s presence in Rochester, should have an impact on fares across the board, “ultimately with Orlando being our number one destination and a couple other airlines flying to the Orlando area, it will reduce airfare across-the-board among all the airlines that fly to Orlando and so, that’s a good thing for Rochester passengers,” he says. 

Rochester is Spirit’s biggest footprint in the state outside of New York City.

Passengers should keep in mind that while the fares may seem low, as a low-cost carrier, Spirit charges additional fees for seat selection, carry-on bags, checked bags, etc.