Spirit Airlines sounds the alarm on its future ability to stay in
business
[August 13, 2025] By
WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NEW YORK (AP) — Just five months after emerging from Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection, Spirit Airlines is warning about its future
ability to stay in business.
Spirit Aviation Holdings, the budget carrier's parent company, says it
has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern
over the next year — which is accounting-speak for running out of money.
In a quarterly report issued Monday, Spirit pointed to “adverse market
conditions" that it's continued to face after a recent restructuring and
other efforts to revive its business.
That includes weak demand for domestic leisure travel, which Spirit said
persisted in the second quarter of its fiscal year — among other
challenges and “uncertainties in its business operations” that the
Florida company expects to continue “for at least the remainder of
2025.”
Spirit’s shares tumbled more than 40% Tuesday, with the company’s stock
closing at $2.10.
Known for its no-frills, low-cost flights on a fleet of bright yellow
planes, Spirit has struggled to recover and compete since the COVID-19
pandemic. Rising operation costs and mounting debt eventually led the
company to seek bankruptcy protection in November. By the time of that
Chapter 11 filing, the airline had lost more than $2.5 billion since the
start of 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.

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A Spirit Airlines 319 Airbus approaches Manchester Boston Regional
Airport for a landing, Friday, June 2, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. (AP
Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
 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 on Monday
stressed that 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. The company pointed to the new strategy again on Monday.
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, and Spirit has not
publicly indicated interest in such a transaction since.
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