Spirit Airlines files for Bankruptcy Protection

[Saab34]

Final flight comms

https://twitter.com/x/status/2050472360554246468

 

[Himeno]

The US big 3 have all stated they'll hire any NK crews who want to keep working in the industry.
UA are still honoring ID90 fares for NK staff for 2 weeks, even though their credentials technically are no longer valid.

 

[kookaburra75]

Sad to see such a disrupter fall over. Hoping JetBlue can pull through and not go down the same path.

This piece in CNN sets out some of its problems. With such poor customer service ratings, a seemingly low fare isn't going to cut in. Other low cost carriers like Allegiant and Breeze are doing ok.
From the article:
“Bottom line: the day of being able to maintain business just on the basis of offering a low fare is over,” said Boyd. “It was not the price of fuel that did (Spirit) in. It just accelerated the demise of a doomed airline.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/04/business/spirit-airline-service-woes

 

[Quickstatus]

Been a bit of talk that a large chunk of the fleet even newer NEOs will simply be scrapped for parts and engines

Does Spirit own any of their aircraft?

 

[Himeno]

Does Spirit own any of their aircraft?

57 of the aircraft were owned by the airline. 20 of them were sold during the bankruptcy protection negotiations to CSDS Asset Management.

Part of the reason the planned bailout collapsed was because the US Gov wanted to take control of 90% of the airline and take full ownership of half of the fleet for US Mil use. (basically the US Gov getting 45 ~$200 million aircraft for ~$11k each.)
The airline was better able to get the cash needed to pay their debts by shutting down and selling off their assets at market rates.

 

[Happy Trails]

And all over.

As per another website. 34 years without a fatality.

Guests – Spirit Airlines

spiritrestructuring.com

No fatalities in the air, but maybe a few at the check-in desks and departure gates.

 

[Quickstatus]

Part of the reason the planned bailout collapsed was because the US Gov wanted to take control of 90% of the airline and take full ownership of half of the fleet for US Mil use

I have not found that info
In any case there were some other reasons, such as the $500Mil bailout money would most likely need approval of US Congress and it would open the door for other airlines like Jetblue to also want the same. Apparently POTUS would only agree if it was a good deal - meaning he wanted to buy it on the cheap and then sell it at a profit later.

 

[Saab34]

$500m wouldn’t have lasted too long, probably not even the whole year. Then what?

I’m not too close to the reasons around why they struggled in prior years, they made solid profits last decade, all went downhill after the pandemic. They seemed to have tried to tweak the business model in prior years, perhaps they had a identity issue, trying to convince to passengers they are someone else when everyone will always know those yellow jets for what they are, a true ULCC experience.

 

[Quickstatus]

ULCC experience.

Apparently with an extremely poor service reputation.

 

[moa999]

Apparently with an extremely poor service reputation.

The nature of LCCs

Those airlines are typically structured to lose money on base fares, and only make a profit on the ancillaries.

That includes things like extra baggage, food and drink , flexibility, but also stuff that's almost guaranteed to give you poor review like being strict on luggage allowance, checkin times, ticket names and flexibility etc

 

[Quickstatus]

That includes

Not only that but the airline's policy of doubling down on no customer service

 

[Saab34]

Bit like Tiger. Once you sink to the low barrier, it’s very hard to get oneself back up again .

 

[markis10]

Looks like Nomadic have picked up a lot of biz from the collapse, plenty of OMD ferry flights into Arizona etc

 

[markis10]

The Wall Street Journal

The first call came to Bob Allen’s phone at 6 p.m. ET on a Friday. The message: Get the repo men ready. Spirit Airlines was still in operation and planes were in the air. But the aircraft leasing...

www.facebook.com

The first call came to Bob Allen’s phone at 6 p.m. ET on a Friday. The message: Get the repo men ready.
Spirit Airlines was still in operation and planes were in the air. But the aircraft leasing firms that own dozens of its bright yellow jets were getting anxious as Spirit barreled toward liquidation. They wanted their planes back.
“I had six hours to find 20 pilots,” Allen said.
Nomadic Aviation Group, his company, had been standing by for months as Spirit teetered closer to the brink. Allen and co-founder Steve Giordano quickly assembled a roster of pilots, most of whom had worked for Spirit. They made a WhatsApp group, which swelled to 40 pilots. One had just landed.
“He said, ’can I fly in shorts?’” Giordano recalled. Not a problem. “We generally go khakis and polos, but you know, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he told him.
By 9 a.m. the next day, with Spirit’s death now official, they were ready to go. Pilots had fanned out to airports in South Florida, Charlotte, Houston and Columbus, Ohio, to go pick up the stranded jets. Some were still at the gates where they’d parked after their final flights.
The somewhat grim task is surprisingly complex, involving hourslong Zoom calls with regulators and airport officials, not to mention armies of lawyers. Giordano spent his son’s college graduation glued to his phone, coordinating the first wave of retrievals.
Gaining access to the planes can be a headache. Airport officials don’t let just anyone fly off with a 200-seat passenger jet—they want to see some paperwork. Each repossession can take several hours.
Read more about the repo men with a special set of skills picking up the bright yellow jets: https://on.wsj.com/4uBbPyk

 

[Saab34]

I recall Nomadic handled a whole bunch of the Virgin 737 after the collapse, ferried to and from USA.

 

[markis10]

I recall Nomadic handled a whole bunch of the Virgin 737 after the collapse, ferried to and from USA.

Sure did, think one job was a batch of 7,, hitched a ride in on a Falcon 7x delivery flight and then had to manage departures to take in the limited space at Majuro for refuelling.

 

[markis10]

Economics in the Aviation sector at the moment is still not logical, 4 year old NEO scrapped

https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/airbus-a320neo-n950nk-eirtrade-aviation/3xqxz4

 

[Saab34]

I think it’s more parts are engines are more valuable in the current environment due to the continued challenges in the supply chain. If we didn’t have all the issues with these engines and shortage of parts then it would have just been re leased.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The Wall Street Journal

The first call came to Bob Allen’s phone at 6 p.m. ET on a Friday. The message: Get the repo men ready. Spirit Airlines was still in operation and planes were in the air. But the aircraft leasing...

www.facebook.com

The first call came to Bob Allen’s phone at 6 p.m. ET on a Friday. The message: Get the repo men ready.
Spirit Airlines was still in operation and planes were in the air. But the aircraft leasing firms that own dozens of its bright yellow jets were getting anxious as Spirit barreled toward liquidation. They wanted their planes back.
“I had six hours to find 20 pilots,” Allen said.
Nomadic Aviation Group, his company, had been standing by for months as Spirit teetered closer to the brink. Allen and co-founder Steve Giordano quickly assembled a roster of pilots, most of whom had worked for Spirit. They made a WhatsApp group, which swelled to 40 pilots. One had just landed.
“He said, ’can I fly in shorts?’” Giordano recalled. Not a problem. “We generally go khakis and polos, but you know, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he told him.
By 9 a.m. the next day, with Spirit’s death now official, they were ready to go. Pilots had fanned out to airports in South Florida, Charlotte, Houston and Columbus, Ohio, to go pick up the stranded jets. Some were still at the gates where they’d parked after their final flights.
The somewhat grim task is surprisingly complex, involving hourslong Zoom calls with regulators and airport officials, not to mention armies of lawyers. Giordano spent his son’s college graduation glued to his phone, coordinating the first wave of retrievals.
Gaining access to the planes can be a headache. Airport officials don’t let just anyone fly off with a 200-seat passenger jet—they want to see some paperwork. Each repossession can take several hours.
Read more about the repo men with a special set of skills picking up the bright yellow jets: https://on.wsj.com/4uBbPyk

One would have thought very much easier with the Cape Town Convention than before!