A Baton Rouge businessman is looking to form a public-private partnership to buy Spirit Airlines and move its headquarters to New Orleans. John Miller, who’s the founder of the Country Club of Louisiana, says if he’s successful in his quest to buy the financially troubled ultra-low-cost airline, take everything you know about the airline and throw it in the garbage.
“You will have 34-inch (airline seat) pitch. Right now, there’s about 29-inch pitch in Spirit. There’ll be first class seats and everything. You will not pay all these fees and all of these extras,” Miller said.
Miller says the purchase of Spirit Airlines is the first step in making Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport a hub airport, which he says would be the foundation of a $12 billion annual economic impact for New Orleans, with 5 million new visitors to one of the most visited cities in the country.
“We’re going to triple the number of flights going out of New Orleans from 130 to almost 500,” Miller said.
Miller says making New Orleans Airport a hub can further transform Spirit Airlines by opening it up to international destinations.
“At the beginning, we’re expecting it to be 25 to 30, mostly Latin America. When we add a third runway, we’ll be able to increase the service to about 25 international markets overseas,” Miller explained.
Frontier and JetBlue have both previously attempted to buy Spirit Airlines. Spirit’s shareholders rejected Frontier’s offer in July of 2022, and JetBlue’s $3.6 billion offer was blocked by a judge in 2024.
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