Spirit continues to turn its focus away from the U.S. domestic market with plans to add up to 10 routes and as many as three international gateways next year.

The move falls in line with the carrier's intentions to build a base in Fort Lauderdale to serve Caribbean and Latin American destinations. At one point, Spirit executives said the airline's international capacity could rise 50% this year (DAILY, Jan. 24).

The carrier has set up a special web site - adioshighfares.com - for airports to use to submit proposals for service. "Spirit Airlines is particularly interested in cities that are underserved by their existing air service, whose air fares are overpriced and cities that have the ability to provide a low cost of doing business," it said on the web site. It is looking for flights to and from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach airports.

Airports should send only applications that coordinate under a public-private partnership, said the carrier. Spirit is looking for information including statistics on local economy; population; airport operations and costs; airline incentives; and traffic. It also asked for service suggestions outside South Florida. Applications can be downloaded from the web site and are due to the airline by Aug. 10.

Spirit receives phone calls "all the time" from cities interested in having the airline launch service, a carrier spokeswoman said. The proposal process is a way for the carrier to ensure it receives all the necessary information to make a decision, she noted.

The carrier's adopted philosophy is that the Caribbean and Latin America have limited low-fare carrier options. Spirit has assigned the "Ultra Low Cost Carrier" name to itself after changing its path earlier this year by cutting its premium aircraft product and charging for checked bags and beverages (DAILY, March 12).

But Spirit might not be alone much longer in serving those destinations. Starting in November, the airline will compete directly with JetBlue on flights from Fort Lauderdale to Ponce, Puerto Rico. AirTran has also said it could launch flights to Caribbean points as early as next year (DAILY, July 27), and Southwest wants to start service to "near international" destinations in 2009.

And while the transition from MD-80s to its current all-Airbus fleet has been a drag on profits in the past, DOT statistics show Spirit, which is privately held, posted a net income of $4.6 million in the first quarter of 2007, compared with a $13.8 million loss a year ago.

The climb in profitability is also accompanied by some labor strife at Spirit. Pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association this month accused management of "forcing" them to fly more international hours than what's stipulated in their contract to mitigate staffing shortages. APLA claims management is trying to make individual deals with pilots to fly trips that violate their contract.