Spirit Airlines said Monday it has filed for bankruptcy protection and will try to restart as it struggles to recover from the pandemic-induced slump in travel and failed attempts to sell itself to JetBlue and Frontier Airlines.
Spirit, the largest U.S. budget airline, has lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020 and faces looming debt payments totaling more than $1 billion in the coming year, obligations it is unlikely to be able to meet.
Spirit said it expects to be able to operate as normally as it works its way through a pre-arranged bankruptcy process and that customers will be able to continue booking and flying without interruption.
Shares of Miramar, Florida-based Spirit fell 25% on Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported the airline was discussing the terms of a possible bankruptcy filing with its bondholders. It was just the latest in a series of blows that have sent the shares down 97% since the end of 2018 – when Spirit was still making money.
In October, Spirit and Frontier revived merger talks after talks ended in 2022 when JetBlue outbid Frontier, according to the WSJ. A federal judge blocked the JetBlue merger in January due to antitrust concerns.
