Photos of the Week: Getting in the Spirit

In honor of Spirit’s fifth anniversary at Pittsburgh International Airport, we’re sharing this sharp shot from Trego Dugan ramp worker Dominic Hicks and offering up a “Did You Know” section about the nation’s largest ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC).

Did you know …

• Spirit actually started as a trucking firm in Michigan. Clippert Trucking Company began operating in 1964 and changed its name to Ground Air Transfer in 1974. It didn’t enter the aviation field until 1983 as Charter One, a tour operator out of Detroit.
• After becoming Spirit Airlines in 1992, the carrier’s first route was between Detroit and Atlantic City, N.J. Flights between Boston and Providence, R.I., began two weeks later.
• The airline currently serves 67 destinations (including Pittsburgh) in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, with about 500 flights operating each day.
• Spirit was the first ULCC to add high-speed wi-fi to their aircraft, beginning in 2018.
• Late last year, Spirit rolled out a new biometric photo-matching system to pair with its automated self-bag drop. In short, passengers can check in their bags and get their boarding passes without ever interacting with a Spirit employee.

We hope travelers boarding Spirit aircraft out of PIT all get a view like this one from Justin Davis, with a gorgeous, colorful horizon beckoning.

Thanks, Dominic and Justin!

Our readers continue to pass along shots of unique aircraft, international airports, historical events, gorgeous views and even family vacation photos for this feature. We love them! Keep them coming—you can click here for submission guidelines.

An airborne view of the horizon. (Submitted by Justin Davis)