Another Icelandair?

Readers of mine from last spring and summer might recall my issue with Icelandair--I was medically unable to fly, gave them over 2 months of notice before my flight, and they wouldn't refund my money or allow me to pay a fee to reschedule my flight (to this summer).  They kept half my money, earning my eternal ire and as well as the epithet "rat bastards".

Spirit Airlines appears to be going the same way:

After a weekend of brutal publicity over its refusal to grant a dying Vietnam vet a $197 ticket refund because his doctor forbids him to fly, Spirit Airlines issued has a simple response:

"No."

The terse, one-word retort from company spokeswoman Misty Pinson appears to have grounded any hope that Jerry Meekins, 76, of Clearwater, Fla., might get his money back. Meekins bought the ticket to Atlantic City last month so he could see his daughter before she had surgery of her own. But when his esophageal cancer left his immune system too ravaged for travel, all the airline offered him was another ticket.

Again, I'm not in favor of requiring them to do what Mr. Meekins wants. However, they're certainly not appearing to take care of their customer--like the Icelandair rat bastards--and if they suffer in the marketplace from this public exposure, such is life.

Update, 5/4/12:  Spirit capitulates, Icelandair does not.