Spirit Airlines canceled 40 flights to and from Orlando International Airport, citing the need to inspect 25 planes for a potential problem that management did not identify.
An unknown number of Spirit Airlines passengers saw their travel plans disrupted on Friday as the discount carrier grounded up to 25 jetliners for what the Federal Aviation Administration called “mandatory inspections,” and more than 40 flights were canceled at Orlando International Airport.
According to data provided by FlightAware, an online tracker of worldwide daily commercial airline activity, the Miramar-based discount carrier led the industry with 98 flight cancellations as the day unfolded.
“We’ve canceled a portion of our scheduled flights to perform a necessary inspection of a small section of 25 of our aircraft,” Spirit said in a statement. “While this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, the impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete the inspections and work to return to normal operations.
