What does the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy mean for airfares? Experts weigh in.

Budget carrier Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy this week, stoking concern about how the financial peril of a low-fare option could impact prices across the industry.

The Florida-based company has vowed to continue operations as normal while bankruptcy proceedings unfold over the coming months.

“Guests can continue to book and fly without interruption and can use all tickets, credits and loyalty points,” Spirit Airlines said in a statement on Monday.

Those plans should minimize the effect on airline prices in the short term, leaving the options available to customers essentially unchanged, industry analysts told ABC News.

Analysts differed about the bankruptcy’s long-term implications, however.

Some experts downplayed the effect on prices, saying Spirit Airlines holds a relatively small market share and alternative low-cost carriers would jump into a void left in the event of downsizing or merger. While other experts warned of meaningful price increases for some flight routes as a result of diminished competition.

“This is not a black and white situation,” Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. “It’s very much a thousand shades of gray when it comes to the potential impact of Spirit’s bankruptcy on pricing.”

Spirit Airlines did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Spirit Airlines brought in roughly $1.3 billion in revenue over a recent three-month stretch, which marked a 10% decline compared to the same period a year ago, according to an earnings release in August.

Frontier Airlines, another budget carrier, brought in $935 million over a recent three-month period, earnings showed.

By comparison, Delta earned about $15 billion over a recent three-month period, while American Airlines brought in $13.6 billion.

The disparity in size between the low-priced airlines and the top firms underscores a fissure in the industry separating budget carriers in select markets from the major airlines that dominate flight offerings nationwide, Mike Boyd, president of aviation consulting firm Boyd Group International, told ABC News.

“The airline industry is made up of those two basic groups,” Boyd said. He pointed to the relatively small stature of Spirit Airlines as a reason why its bankruptcy would likely have little impact on prices across the sector.

“Spirit isn’t big enough to cause airfares to go up,” Boyd said.

Plus, the other budget airlines would likely jump into the flight routes set aside by Spirit Airlines, if the company chooses to downsize or merge with a competitor, Harteveldt said.

The emergence of those replacements would preserve the downward pressure on prices in the relevant flight routes where budget airlines prosper, he added.

“It’s very possible other airlines would step in,” Harteveldt said. “Price competition would be alive and well.”

At least one industry analyst sharply disagreed with such optimism.

Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst at Upgraded Points, said the potential loss of some low-fare flight options at Spirit Airlines would deliver a significant blow to the budget offerings available to consumers.

“You would be pulling out a major player in the ultra-low-cost carrier market,” Larounis said.

The low price point offered by Spirit Airlines on online booking platforms forces the larger carriers to reduce their prices, even if added fees for checked bags or seat selection end up raising the cost of a given Spirit Airlines flight, Larounis said.

The financial travails faced by Spirit Airlines are part of a wider trend that has thinned out low-cost offerings, placing increased importance on the fate of Spirit Airlines for the competitiveness of the marketplace, Larounis added.

A potentially diminished version of Spirit Airlines could “drive prices up,” Larounis said.

Industry analysts who spoke to ABC News emphasized that much remains to be determined about the fate of Spirit Airlines.

The company will likely seek to reduce costs while homing in on its most profitable markets, some experts said, acknowledging that the company may ultimately merge with a larger carrier.

For now, Spirit Airlines has not announced any route changes or reductions in flight capacity.

“The company is saying everything is business as usual during the bankruptcy,” Sarah Foss, head of legal at financial consulting firm Debtwire, told ABC News.

“They haven’t talked about any changes to routes or flight schedules, but I would imagine that might come during the bankruptcy or afterward,” Foss added.