Spirit Airlines pilot, Capt. Jon Jackson, was given a hero's send-off by a rival airline and his first officer son, Chris, as his retirement flight was abruptly cut due to the airline's sudden shutdown. Jackson was stranded after Spirit ceased operations and went out of business in the middle of night. The airline's closure left thousands of passengers stranded across 277 cancelled flights. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy commended the efforts of competing airlines to assist stranded passengers. The company announced it was shutting operations effective immediately after failing to secure a $500 million bailout from the federal government.