Spirit Airlines has shut down all operations, canceling all flights and leaving travelers scrambling.

Never in 60 years saw a gate agent challenge a carry-on's size.  Big, big bags allowed on board.  But then I never flew Spirit. 

 I concur.

I don't think you will like the new Southwest nor the current Delta, American, United and so on.  They all do it now as people are being denied bin space when too many people bring their oversized carry-ons and multiple cabin bags.  They are supposed to have one carry-on for the bin and one underseat item. It is the other passengers who are complaining when the airlines don't enforce the rules, because they have to gate check their bags when there is no bin space.  

The reason Spirit, Frontier, and Allegiant get bad ratings is that, to this day, people simply don't understand what they are buying and they are too lazy to take a couple of minutes to look it up.  They go to some consolidator like Expedia and select the lowest cost flight from the options shown, never bothering to look at what is included and not included.  They simply don't bother to make an apples-to-apples comparison. 

Then they arrive at the airport with their carry-on and checked bag and are shocked to discover that no those aren't included. Over the past five years, I have heard many folks have a meltdown at the check-in counter because they didn't bother to read the terms of what they bought and just made an assumption that luggage was included. I have also heard a lot of in-flight bitching and moaning when folks don't realize beverages and snacks are not included in their fare when all they had to do was read. 

Finally, people don't understand the difference between a hub-and-spoke airline and a point-to-point airline. When you have time-critical travel, say you're catching an onward flight the same day with another carrier or you have an important meeting you can't miss, don't book on a point-to-point airline.  Why? If something goes wrong, such as a mechanical issue, there is no other next flight the same day, and sometimes the next flight is a few days away, meaning they have no alternative way to get you to your destination the same day or maybe even the next day. 

Point to Point Airlines:  Frontier, Allegiant, Spirit, Breeze and Southwest. With these airlines, you don't fly into a big hub city like Atlanta or DFW.  You typically travel from start to finish on the same flight. 

Hub and spoke airlines: Delta, United, Alaska and American.  On these, you typically fly into a hub city, maybe on a small regional jet,  and have a layover in the hub before you go onward to your final destination. 

I note Southwest as part of their changes, wants to evolve into a more traditional hub and spoke airline rather than a point-to-point airline. That will be difficult as they don't have a regional feeder airline. 

      The REAL problem with Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant is that they delibertly moved away from the easy, long time model of purchasing airfare when they decided to scam, delude, befuddle and confuse people with their hidden fees and sneaky guidelines. What used to be and was a straight forward method of purchasing airfare became an exercise in futility for the average person. They played a game of advertising "low fares" which ended up being as expensive as what the other convential airlines charged when the totals were totaled - all in the attempt to sell an inferior product under the guise as being inexpensive. People got tired of the ruse and decided not to play their game.

It won't bother me.  I don't carry-on.  And I didn't bully Spirit.  As I said, I'd never flown with them.  I think they don't even fly from my airport.  Had they, I might have tried them once at least.

I simply said, or meant to convey, that in all my years of flying I saw many huge (IMO) bags being carried on and stuffed into the overheads.  Many which I'm sure would not have fit into that little measuring thing.  That's all.  Perhaps that has changed

I love SWA, by the way.  The only non-stop carrier to Vegas, from my airport anyway.  Have a trip booked for July.  Seldom have flown other airline, only when SWA didn't serve my destination.   

AA is one, and often turned out to be American Eagles, their feeder planes.  Their smallest plane overheads don't accommodate bags of much size.  They grab them as you walk the jet bridge and stow them; then load them up on the arrival jet bridge as you deplane.  Pretty neat.

I dreaded the SWA change, but I think I can adapt, and maybe even like it better, except for the higher fares.  In fact, I flew points last trip, paid $ for my friend's flight as her birthday gift.  No shopping for a gift.  Win win.  LOL.

Candy

 I too have also flown Southwest faithfully for over 30 years. The miscreants that are now destroying that once great low fare airline will reap their just rewards as thousands of once faithful customers look elsewhere for air travel. I have 2 flights to Vegas scheduled - if I fly with them after that remains to be seen. The BEST way to book flights is with points, which if you need to cancel, go back into your account without losing of said points (if not used within 6 months like what happens to $ not used within 6 months if you cancel a base fare ticket) - also book 2 one way tickets because if you need to change one leg for any reason you can, but if you have a round trip ticket and need to change one leg, you have to cancel the whole round trip ticket and may have to rebook the other leg at a higher price. One other thing, keep checking their schedule and flights - Southwest keeps playing games with the airfares and you might catch a better - or discounted fare - when you check. This is another reason to book one way fares.