Spirit Airlines Shows Tardiness Pays as No-Frills Fuels Shares

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Spirit Airlines Inc. carved out a niche as the ultra low-cost, no-frills carrier, charging for everything from carry-on bags to printing boarding passes. It’s achieved another get-what-you-pay-for milestone, this time as the airline with the worst on-time record in North America.

While a ticket from Boston to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Spirit goes for as little as $112, and a trip from New York to Chicago can be had for $54, there’s only a 67 percent chance the flights will land when they’re supposed to, according to rankings data provided by FlightStats Inc. and compiled by Bloomberg. That put Spirit dead last in 2013 among 35 carriers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.