Pilot layoffs are inevitable at Spirit Airlines after the cash-strapped carrier announced Friday it was shedding almost 100 aircraft, nearly half its fleet, in hopes of emerging from bankruptcy “much smaller and stronger.” CFO Fred Cromer made the announcement in a meeting with creditors, saying it will save Spirit hundreds of millions of dollars. The company is also applying to the bankruptcy court to cancel 87 new aircraft leases and it’s already been approved to reject 12 airport leases 19 ground-handling agreements, according to Reuters.
Cromer said market conditions led to this bankruptcy, the airline’s second. An oversupply of budget carrier seats and a drop in traffic combined to push the company back into creditor protection. “While the industry was hopeful at the beginning of 2025 that there would be a rebound, it didn’t happen,” he said. “That obviously led to the situation that we’re in today.” Spirit has until Oct. 27 to come up with a final list of aircraft, and there may be some variations from the current plan depending on negotiations with lessors.
Not the first, probably not the last. Heartbreaking for the employees and families. The reality of this turbulent business. Furloughs and layoffs are second nature but recovery can happen if one has patience.
I suspect this saga is far from over yet.
Spirit’s been riding the throttle too hard, then chopping power when it gets rough, just climbs and dives.
A 2000’s USAirways redux, Deja vous all over again. Hopefully they limp along and eventually get acquired by another airline. It can happen, I lived it, unfortunately a lot of human wreckage along the way.