Spirit Airlines’ parent company Tuesday announced a series of deals with top creditors that would funnel up to $475 million in critical cash to the troubled discount carrier as it reorganizes for a second time under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The company said the “debtor-in-possession” financing is coming from existing bondholders.
As part of a motion filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, “the Company obtained immediate interim access to $120 million,” the airline said in a statement made public Tuesday afternoon. Up to $200 million “is expected to be available upon court approval” after a hearing on Oct. 10.
Spirit is also in line for another $150 million from AerCap Ireland Ltd. after the two companies negotiated a restructuring of the carrier’s aircraft leasing agreements. The settlement with AerCap will allow Spirit to end leases on 27 Airbus jetliners, “allowing the Company to reduce operating costs by hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The company filed a heavily redacted notice of the AerCap deal with the court last week, but it drew an objection from the U.S. Trustee who complained the agreement was too short on details to be evaluated. But critical information, such as the $150 million payment to Spirit, became public on Tuesday.
The proposed settlement “also resolves all claims and disputes between AerCap and Spirit and provides for the future delivery of 30 aircraft,” Spirit said.
The airline added that it sought and received court approval Tuesday to end 12 airport leases and 19 ground handling agreements around the country.
A Spirit Airlines airplane taxis at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
More to come
“Active discussions with key stakeholders continue,” the airline said. “The Company expects to announce agreements with additional lessors, including new liquidity and further fleet rationalization, as a part of the rightsizing of the business that will generate significant cost savings.”
Management affirmed that Spirit has been in talks with its principal labor unions — including the Air Line Pilots Association and Association of Flight Attendants-CWA — “to identify cost savings within the respective collective bargaining agreements.”
“These are significant steps forward in a short period of time to build a stronger Spirit and secure a future with high-value travel options for American consumers,” Spirit CEO Dave Davis said in the statement. “While there’s more work to be done, we’re grateful to our stakeholders who have stepped up to support us during the restructuring.”
For the second time in less than year, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 protection on Aug. 29, saying it had not done enough during its first trip into court to fix its financial problems and deal with a hostile industry environment and softening travel demand. Since its latest filing, rival carriers including United Airlines, Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways have all installed service over routes served by Spirit.
Previous measures
Within the short period of time referenced by Davis, Spirit has undertaken the following measures:
Identified capacity reductions of 25%, which is resulting in the elimination of service to a variety of U.S. airports. Most recently, airports serving Minneapoiis-St. Paul and the Hartford, Connecticut, area were among the latest cuts on a list of a reported 40 route reductions.
Announced the furloughs of 1,800 of its 5,200 unionized flight attendants. According to mandatory notices filed with the state of Florida, 930 of them work out of three Florida airports: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport.
Announced the furloughs of 270 unionized pilots and the demotions of 140 captains.
