In 2000, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fined Spirit Airlines $67,000 for allegedly violating federal regulations on cabin and seat markings and placards. Prior to the decision to move the headquarters to Miramar, Spirit considered Atlantic City, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. It relocated its headquarters in November 1999, moving to Miramar, Florida, in the Miami Metropolitan Area.

Spirit initially had their headquarters in Eastpointe, Michigan (formerly East Detroit) in Metro Detroit. At the time Spirit was utilizing DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft. In 1996, Janet Patton became Spirit Airlines' first woman pilot, and in 1998 she became the first woman captain. In response to criticism, Spirit Airlines said it would make sure all paid customers would always be able to fly to their destination, even if Spirit Airlines had to book them on a competitor's airline. The overbooking occurred because Spirit Airlines had given incorrect instructions to travel agents, causing those tickets not to be valid, even though the customers had paid for the flights. In the summer of 1994, Spirit Airlines overbooked flights, and 1,400 customers' tickets were canceled. During the next five years, Spirit expanded further, increasing service from Detroit and adding service in new markets such as Myrtle Beach, Los Angeles, and New York City. Flights between Atlantic City and Fort Myers, Florida, began on September 25, 1993. On April 2, 1993, Spirit Airlines began scheduled service to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Scheduled flights between Boston and Providence began on June 15, 1992. Scheduled flights between Detroit and Atlantic City began on June 1, 1992. On May 29, 1992, Charter One brought jet aircraft into the fleet and changed its name to Spirit Airlines. In 1990, Charter One began scheduled service from Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, to Atlantic City. The airline service was founded in 1983 in Macomb County, Michigan, by Ned Homfeld as Charter One Airlines, a Detroit-based charter tour operator providing travel packages to entertainment destinations such as Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and the Bahamas. The company changed its name to Ground Air Transfer, Inc., in 1974. The company initially started as Clippert Trucking Company in 1964.

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