Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy protection
November 18, 2024
On 18 November 2024, following the failure of its plans to merge with Frontier Airlines, and facing mounting losses, Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing assets and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion. The company said that it has reached an agreement to restructure its debt and will raise money during the bankruptcy process
Spirit Airlines will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange as a result of the bankruptcy filing, but will continue to operate throughout the bankruptcy, from which it expects to emerge by the beginning of 2025. Spirit’s operations will continue as normal, employee salaries and payments to aircraft leasing companies will continue to be paid and passengers will be unaffected, the airline says.
Spirit Airlines is an ultra-low cost, ‘no frills’ airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, and is the largest ultra-low-cost carrier in North America and the seventh largest passenger airline in North America, operating throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The airline has not recorded a full-year profit since the Covid-19 pandemic, and recorded losses of around $360m in the first half of 2024. Spirit has now become the first US airline to file for Chapter 11 since American Airlines declared bankruptcy in 2011.
