(AP) – Budget carrier Spirit Airlines announced Friday that it has filed for renewed bankruptcy protection months after completing a Chapter 11 reorganization.
The low-cost airline stated that it plans to maintain regular operations during the restructuring process, allowing passengers to continue booking trips and utilizing their tickets, credits, and loyalty points. The company assured that its employees and contractors would continue to receive their salaries.
Spirit President and CEO Dave Davis noted that the airline’s previous Chapter 11 filing concentrated on debt reduction and capital raising. Since exiting that process in March, it became evident that more efforts are necessary and that there are additional tools available to better position Spirit for the future.
In a quarterly report released earlier this month, Spirit Aviation Holdings, the airline’s parent company, expressed “substantial doubt” about its ability to remain operational over the next year, referring to financial distress in accounting terms. Spirit attributed this to “adverse market conditions” encountered after its recent restructuring and other initiatives aimed at revitalizing its business.
Factors like weak demand for domestic leisure travel, particularly evident in the second quarter of its fiscal year, and “uncertainties in its business operations” are projected by the Florida-based company to persist “for at least the remainder of 2025.”
Known for its low-cost, no-frills flights operated on a fleet of bright yellow planes, Spirit has faced challenges in recovering and competing since the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing operational costs and accumulating debt led the company to seek bankruptcy protection in November. By the time of the Chapter 11 filing, the airline had suffered losses of more than $2.5 billion since 2020.
When Spirit emerged from bankruptcy protection in March, the company successfully restructured some of its debt obligations and secured new financing for future operations. Spirit has continued to make other cost-cutting efforts since — including plans to furlough about 270 pilots and downgrade some 140 captains to first officers in the coming months.
The furloughs and downgrades announced last month go into effect Oct. 1 and Nov. 1 to align with Spirit’s “projected flight volume for 2026,” the company noted in its quarterly report. They also follow previous furloughs and job cuts before the company’s bankruptcy filing last year.
Despite these and other cost-cutting efforts, Spirit has said it needs more cash. As a result, the company said it may also sell certain aircraft and real estate.
And as discount carriers struggle to compete with bigger airlines — many of which have snagged budget-conscious customers through their own tiered offerings — Spirit is attempting to tap into the growing market for more upscale travel. It is now offering flight options with tiered prices, the higher-priced tickets coming with more amenities.
Spirit’s aircraft fleet is relatively young, which has also made the airline an attractive takeover target. But such buyout attempts from budget rivals like JetBlue and Frontier were unsuccessful both before and during the bankruptcy process.
Spirit operates 5,013 flights to 88 destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Panama and Colombia, according to travel search engine Skyscanner.net
