Illinois and Colorado are coming for your airline miles
Key takeaways
- That is what happened to Spirit.
- Most Americans still think airline miles are a perk.
- The modern airline industry is built on co-branded credit cards.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
Brenner, opinion contributor - 05/27/26 1:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Patrick M. Brenner, opinion contributor - 05/27/26 1:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied FILE In this Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, file photo, a woman pays by credit card while checking out at a retail store in Colma, Calif.(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Spirit Airlines is gone. The airline business is fragile. Fuel prices move. Labor costs rise. Consumers chase low fares. Regulators block mergers. Politicians threaten bailouts. Then, when the math no longer works, planes stop flying.
That is what happened to Spirit. Now, just as travelers are watching one low-cost carrier disappear from the sky, politicians in Illinois and Colorado are threatening another piece of the aviation economy: the credit-card rewards system that increasingly powers airlines.
Most Americans still think airline miles are a perk. In fact, they are infrastructure.