Overview
- Spirit filed for Chapter 11 protection on August 29 in the Southern District of New York, its second bankruptcy in less than a year after emerging in March.
- The airline says customers can continue to book and travel, tickets and loyalty points remain valid, and employees and contractors will keep receiving pay and benefits; vendors will be paid for post‑filing services.
- Management plans to redesign the route network, exit select markets and right‑size the fleet, targeting hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings.
- The move follows steep losses and a cash crunch, including a roughly $246 million net loss in the June quarter, a full $275 million revolver draw and a recent going‑concern warning.
- Spirit says it is engaging with lessors and debtholders, with reports of lessors sounding out rivals about aircraft, and the filing is expected to lead to a stock delisting with existing equity likely canceled after restructuring.