Florida-based ultra-low-cost-carrier Spirit Airlines will open a crew base at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport this fall. The news follows the airline opening a maintenance facility at the United Airlines-dominated airport earlier this year. It also follows Spirit Airlines opening crew bases at Miami Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport earlier this year.

Spirit Airlines invests in Houston IAH

Spirit Airlines says around 150 pilots and 300 flight attendants will be based in Houston (IAH). An undecided number of support staff, supervisors, and additional crew will follow shortly after. Spirit says the new maintenance facility and crew base at Houston will help support new destinations the airline is planning.

Spirit Airlines already links IAH with 23 destinations, including 16 domestic and seven international destinations. According to US Bureau of Transportation statistics, in the 12 months to April 30, 2022, Spirit Airlines had the fourth-biggest market share (7.08%) at George Bush International. The dominant carrier at the airport is United Airlines. In the same period, United had a 48.96% market share at IAH. Mesa had the second-largest market share at IAH, followed by Skywest Airlines.

Spirit's market share in Houston will see it operate 19 departures and 21 arrivals on Wednesday. According to Spirit Airlines, Houston's strategic location and good mix of routes makes the airport an ideal location for a crew base. It would also reduce the level of crew layovers in the city and flying in crew to operate flights from Houston.

A new crew base to help ease operational strains

A crew base in Houston would also help Spirit's operational reliability and on-time performance. Spirit isn't immune from the labor shortfalls and challenges facing the US airline industry. US Bureau of Transportation statistics reveal 4.84% of Spirit's flights have been canceled, and a whopping 27.08% of flights have been delayed so far this year. For calendar 2022, the US airline industry average is 3.62% for cancellations and 19.91% for delays. A crew base at IAH would at least mean they would have standby crews in situ. The maintenance facility would enable some repairs to be made to aircraft if they go tech while on the ground in Houston. Putting more people into Houston won't solve all of Spirit's operational issues, but it will help.

"This year marks our tenth anniversary in Houston, and it's the perfect time to celebrate this expansion that will bolster the foundation of our operation as our airline continues to grow," said Nick Bartolotta, Vice President of Operations and Crew Planning for Spirit Airlines. "Houston is a key international gateway in our flight network, and we greatly appreciate the strong partnership with the city and airport that helped make this opportunity a reality."

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Aside from the three crew bases opening or opened this year, Spirit Airlines also has crew bases in Atlantic City (ACY), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), and Orlando (MCO).

Spirit Airlines also notes it has no plans to stop growing. Aside from new planned new routes, including some from IAH, the airline says it is or has accepted 24 new planes this year, taking the fleet total to 197 aircraft. A further 33 new aircraft are expected next year.