Struggling Spirit Airlines has sharply reduced its October schedule and is cutting routes across its network amid reports that it is exploring a bankruptcy filing.
The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg both reported on 3 October that Spirit is considering financial restructuring, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the discount carrier’s financial situation.
Ted Christie, Spirit’s chief executive, maintained that the company was not exploring filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as recently as August. Spirit has in recent weeks touted new fare bundles, including the option to sit next to a blocked middle seat, and has been eliminating many add-on fees in a bid to attract more customers and boost sagging revenue.
Meanwhile, airline schedule data from aviation analytics company Cirium show that Spirit has been aggressively cutting loss-making flights from its network. The discount carrier “drastically reduced its seats scheduled to be flown” as it cut passenger capacity by about 18% between August and September, Cirium says.
Spirit has reduced its October schedule by about 10% compared with the same month of last year. According to Cirium, the carrier’s share of US domestic passenger capacity has decreased to 4.95% this year, compared with 5.25% in 2025.
As growth stalls, Spirit recently decided to defer deliveries of new Airbus A320neo-family jets and furlough hundreds of pilots.
Spirit has struggled to turn profits since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, with its woes worsening following the collapse of a planned $3.8 billion acquisition by JetBlue Airways. That deal was blocked earlier this year by a federal antitrust lawsuit, primarily on the grounds that it would eliminate a low-cost carrier from the market, thus reducing competition and harming consumers.
Spirit has been severely hobbled by Pratt & Whitney’s recall of PW1100G geared turbofans (GTFs), which power Airbus A320neo-family jets. Manufacturing issues have prompted early engine inspections and parts replacements, with airlines worldwide suffering from lengthy aircaft groundings.
Cirium fleets data show that Spirit has 94 aircraft powered by GTF engines. It currently has 21 A320neo-family jets “in storage” – meaning they have not operated in more than 30 days – though it is possible that some of those aircraft are grounded for other reasons.
In March, Spirit entered into an agreement for P&W affiliate International Aero Engines to provide a monthly credit through the end of 2024, valued between $150 million and $200 million, as compensation for the groundings.
Spirit reported a second-quarter loss of $193 million, and says it lost a total of $336 million in the first half of 2024.
