Spirit Airlines, the ultra-low-cost flyer that shut down operations last weekend, was often the butt of jokes. As a frequent Spirit flyer, this meant I was used to being on the receiving end of these jokes. Would I wear multiple layers to the airport to avoid a carry-on bag fee? Would I splurge for a “Big Front Seat,” which didn’t have a recline button? Would I make it to my destination at all?

Spirit had its own terminal at LaGuardia Airport, and when a man I had a crush on once offered to coordinate our airport travel for separate trips that happened to coincide, I immediately declined. I didn’t want to admit that my Thanksgiving flight home was on Spirit, unable to bear the scrutiny or sarcasm that often followed such a revelation.

But while it may have been the laughingstock of the skies, a raft of heartfelt tributes rolled in after Spirit announced its closure — even from former naysayers. The posts ranged from whimsical (celebrating the Airplane Yoga that was a frequent fixture on flights) to sentimental. (“Rip Bananabus,” read one popular Instagram comment, referring to Spirit’s distinctive yellow fleet of planes. “Even though we bullied you, we all loved you deep down.”) There was plenty of concern for Spirit’s newly unemployed airline workers; nearly 17,000 employees or contractors lost their jobs, and some of them posted their own touching tributes.

There was also genuine mourning for an airline that filled........

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