I can’t say that I’m surprised to hear this, though it certainly counters the narrative we’ve heard in recent weeks.
In this post:
Spirit Airlines reportedly may be days from liquidation
Bloomberg reports that Spirit Airlines could liquidate as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. For context, Spirit is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which it has now entered into twice within the past couple of years.
The ultra low cost carrier has had a very rough several years, as it has lost billions of dollars since the start of the pandemic, as the industry has evolved, and as it has gone through a failed merger with JetBlue.
As recently as mid-March 2026, Spirit insisted that it was planning on emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the coming months, by early summer. Even before the massive spike in oil prices, I couldn’t really make sense of that plan, since Spirit’s margins are among the worst in the industry, based on what we know, and that’s before factoring in the impact of a hike in fuel prices.
For that matter, Spirit’s turnaround plan is basically to shrink into profitability, which isn’t a great strategy when you’re trying to compete on cost (since growth contributes to better unit costs).
So we’ll see how this plays out, but liquidating within days is a very different narrative than emerging from bankruptcy shortly. I imagine that Spirit’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy was marginal at best, and high oil prices certainly don’t help.
While it’s entirely possible the airline doesn’t liquidate in the coming days, the fact that a reliable media source is reporting that it could happen within days suggests to me that it’s likely imminent. In fairness, we’ve heard rumors of Spirit liquidation before.
It would be sad to see Spirit disappear, but…
Fundamentally the US airline industry is kind of backwards, when you consider that the successful airlines aren’t those that fly passengers with good margins, but instead, the airlines that successfully cash in on their loyalty programs.
Spirit has for so long gotten the short end of the stick, and has had an unfairly negative reputation, when for the most part it has very friendly staff. I hate the thought of anyone losing their livelihood. That being said:
- Spirit just doesn’t have a business model that works in 2026, and keeping an uncompetitive airline alive only works for so long
- If Spirit goes out of business, at least it maybe improves the prospects of some other airlines, like JetBlue, staying in business, given their overlapping markets (and JetBlue could use some help right now)
In hindsight, it’s easy to look at Spirit and say “ugh, it shouldn’t have all happened that way.” But alas, this is where we are, and we have to be realistic about the situation.
Bottom line
While we’ll see what comes of this, reports suggest that Spirit Airlines could be just days (or hours) from liquidating, as it grapples with the reality of the current oil price situation. Spirit is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy (for the second time in a short period), and while the plan has been to emerge from bankruptcy in early summer, the Iran situation threw a wrench in that (and I question how realistic the plan was in the first place).
What do you make of the prospects of Spirit shutting down?
a doubling of fuel prices will do it.
There will be a thinning of the herd. some carriers will slip into chapter 11 while others will be in a position to pick up assets.
NK just doesn't have much left of value but other carriers do.
If they did liquidate, what would happen to peoples "Free Spirit" miles? Would they evaporate into the ether, or would another airline pick them up?
@ DaveVail -- They would likely evaporate, sadly... some other airlines might have status match promotions, but I wouldn't expect much more than that.
This is like the 10th time this has been speculated in the last two years.
If so, no one should celebrate this at all. We would lose options; consolidation doesn’t help consumers or workers.
I feel most for the workers; pilots and maintenance will get scooped up quickly. The rest would need support at a time where our safety nets are being ripped away.
@Ben Who is likely to scoop up their aircraft?
@ johhny -- That's a great question! With current oil prices, I suspect no one. :p Of course we'll see how that situation evolves. Bigger picture, Spirit was already going to return most of its next generation A320neo-family aircraft to leasing companies, and focus on keeping previous generation aircraft. I imagine that at least among US airlines, that might limit interest.
Are those sources: Scott Kirby and his team? ha.
Oh well. I flew them three times in their Big seat. Great value. Lovely check-in and gate staff, amazing FA's and really good customer service. No gate or onboard fighting at all.
Even if you never flew them, this airline kept fares lower across the board. Watch what happens next.
United can pick up their narrowbodies and fly them to Inverness and Marseille
RIP Spirit!! Too bad the JetBlue/Spirit merger was axed.
Had they merged, the debt buying Spirit would have taken JetBlue down with them.