A Spirit Airlines plane taxis onto the tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, USA, November 7, 2025.
Ryan Murphy | Reuters
Spirit Airlines could be liquidated as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not yet been made public.
The low-cost airline has struggled to recover from its second bankruptcy in less than a year, and now faces the added challenge of rising fuel prices. Fuel is the biggest expense for airlines after personnel costs.
“We do not comment on market rumors or speculation,” Spirit said in a statement.
The exact date the airline could begin liquidation was not immediately clear. Bloomberg earlier reported on the possibility of liquidation.
The news comes as the U.S. airline industry, including Florida-based Spirit, is wrapping up a busy spring break season.
Pilot and flight attendant unions have made concessions in recent months to keep Spirit afloat. The company had planned to scale back and focus on high-demand travel periods and routes in a bid to emerge from bankruptcy as early as this spring.
For many years, Spirit had nearly stable revenues and profits that were the envy of the industry. But things have changed since the pandemic, with rising wages and other costs, changing customer preferences and an overcapacity of domestic flights that has driven down airfares. This was especially painful for U.S.-focused airlines, which don’t enjoy luxurious first-class cabins or the cushion of big credit cards and loyalty programs.
Pratt & Whitney’s problems have snowballed as an engine recall grounded dozens of Airbus planes starting in 2023 and the company plans an acquisition. jet blue airlines was blocked two years ago by a federal judge who ruled it was anticompetitive, leaving both airlines to fend for themselves in a landscape dominated by the big carriers.
According to a December 2024 court filing, Spirit had expected net income to be $252 million last year, but in an August report it said it lost nearly $257 million in the months from March 13 to the end of June after emerging from its initial Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Less than a month later, the company filed again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The airline has sought to attract high-spending customers in recent years by offering larger seats or bundled fares that include seat reservations and baggage, to better compete with larger rivals that have shored up big-spending customers’ profits after the pandemic.
