Summer travel season is getting underway, but this year, travelers are facing a perfect storm of new pressures in the airline industry.

The budget airline, Spirit Airlines, has collapsed after years of financial struggles eliminating one of the country's biggest low-cost carriers, just as millions

of Americans prepare to fly for their summer vacation. The same time, the war in Iran is driving

up fuel costs and disrupting global aviation routes. Raising concerns about higher ticket prices

and fewer options for travelers.

Questions remain about what flying will look like in the months ahead and whether the era of cheap, easy air travel is starting to disappear.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, May 12, 26.

For more on what all of this means for your summer travel plans, I'm joined by USA Today's Consumer Travel Reporter, Zach, Wichter. Zach, it's great to speak with you again.

Great to be here. Thanks for having me back.

Zach, Spirit Airlines was known for ultra-cheap fairs and a travel experience.

People either loved or they loved to complain about, but beyond the memes and reputation,

how significant is it that a major budget carrier has collapsed right before the summer travel season?

It is hugely significant. Spirit Airlines had a really almost outsized impact on the aviation

market in the U.S. As an ultra-low-cost competitor to the other major airlines, they forced these other airlines

to drive their prices down in any market where they were competing with Spirit.

And so as we head into the summer, now that Spirit has exited the market, we're really expecting

to see higher airfares kind of across the board, both because of the higher oil

prices with the war in Iran that you mentioned, but also because this major factor, this major

competitor that's driving down prices in the market is no longer there.

And, Zach, it's not just oil prices.

Airlines are also rerouting flights and dealing with instability in the Middle East. How much is that adding pressure to the entire airline industry right now?

So it is adding pressure to the airline industry, but that pressure isn't totally even across the industry. So obviously, the war in the Middle East in terms of routing isn't affecting

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