PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Budget airlines, including multiple that fly out of Sky Harbor International Airport, are asking the federal government for billions in aid as they navigate jet fuel prices that have increased 70% since the war with Iran began.
“I just booked this a couple of weeks in advance because it was a budget,” said Oty Dan, who was flying Frontier from Phoenix to Detroit. “Because it was a direct flight, it was very affordable at the same time.”
Frontier ranked fifth at Sky Harbor in 2025, carrying 2.3 million passengers.
Ronald Corp, who was flying Frontier to Las Vegas, says he’s a frequent flyer of the airline now.
“I used to always be Delta, Delta, Delta, and then now with these quick trips since I moved from Buffalo to (Arizona), it just makes more sense,” Corp said.
Within the last couple of weeks, Frontier, Allegiant and Sun Country are among the budget airlines that requested $2.5 billion in federal assistance because of the sharp increase in jet fuel prices.
“I would say that at this point, I don’t think it’s necessary,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a press conference on Saturday. “They do have access to cash. If they want to come to the U.S. government, we would be a lender of last resort.”
Spirit Airlines was part of the initial request for $2.5 billion and tried to reach a separate, last-minute $500 million deal with the Trump administration before shutting down.
Dan said he was surprised the government did not bail out Spirit.
“If they didn’t bail Spirit out, they might not other ones,” Dan said.
Corp said he is not worried about the future of budget carriers.
“I think it’s a fear anybody could have, but these prices won’t be forever, that’s another thing we got to look at,” Corp said. “They never stay high.”
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.