Spirit Airlines say they expect to exit their second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late spring or early summer.
The airline have now exited 14 airports, stripping their network back to focus on Floridian hubs and East Coast connectivity. Their fleet has shrunk rapidly, from 48 owned and 116 leased A320s in August 2025, to 28 owned and 66 leased today. Further routes will be cut as Spirit strips down to basics with the aim of restoring profitability by 2027.
New seating products will be key to the airline’s rebrand, Spirit CEO Dave Davis confirmed. Premium economy seats will roll out across the fleet for the first time, as well as expanding the airline’s flagship Big Front Seat from two rows to three. Davis stressed that low fares would remain at the heart of operations, telling CNBC that he was well aware of the LCC’s disruptive powers:
The reason basic economy fares are low on our legacy competitors, is because airlines like us exist. If we didn’t exist, fares … would be substantially higher than they are right now, I can guarantee you.
Other steps Spirit are taking to minimise costs include reducing the number of flights on low-traffic Tuesday and Wednesday. And while on paper it would be more cost-effective to run a newer fleet of energy-efficiency A320neos, Spirit will be sticking with the A320ceo for the most part as the cost of owning or leasing is lower.
Every choice the carrier makes hopes to bring immediate financial stabilisation. Yet consolidation is still a possibility: Castlelake and Frontier Airlines failed to strike deals with Spirit for now, but there’s no suggestion that either option is completely off the table in future. Earlier this year, Allegiant and Sun Country announced they were merging operations as US LCCs struggle in a challenging economic environment. If Spirit can return to profit, it could prove an attractive purchase for other players in the field.
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