Spirit Airlines has stopped flying. Here's what happens next
[May 06, 2026] By
RIO YAMAT
The bright yellow planes are grounded. Now the selloff begins.
Spirit Airlines, which abruptly canceled all its future flights over the
weekend, secured court approval Tuesday to begin dismantling the
once-busy budget carrier and to convert its parts into cash for
creditors.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane authorized the airline's plan for a
rapid wind down of its remaining business activities, clearing the way
for Spirit to move forward with liquidation.
“Today is a very challenging day. It’s not a day that anybody hoped
would ever come,” Lane said as he ruled from the bench following an
hourslong hearing in New York. The judge extended his “sympathy to the
Spirit employees and their families.”
The company needed the judge’s green light to proceed because shutting
down an airline is far from straightforward, with creditors, regulators,
airport authorities and employees all tied into a process that has to be
carefully unwound. More than 100 people tuned in to Tuesday’s hearing
virtually, reflecting the broad interest in the case.
Spirit's plan centers on selling off every possible asset — from its
airplanes, engines and spare parts to gates and landing slots at
airports — while also limiting additional payroll, leasing and other
costs.
The liquidation marks a dramatic turn for Spirit, which filed for
bankruptcy protection in August 2025 hoping to escape financial ruin.
The airline's parent company was attempting to restructure the business
for the second time since November 2024 when it abruptly stopped
operating flights early Saturday.
The shutdown itself was tightly choreographed. The company, Spirit
Aviation Holdings Inc., said it made its going-out-of-business
announcement in the middle of the night to ensure the jetliners making
their final runs for the airline were safely on the ground and their
crews accounted for.
Three days later, that sense of urgency carried into the courtroom,
where the company's lawyers asked the judge for expedited approval of
their wind-down plan, arguing that speed would benefit Spirit's
creditors and customers.
“Any delay will cause chaos, confusion and cost the estate significant
time and money,” the company said in a motion filed with the court,
noting the airline was “not generating any revenue.”
Spirit attorney Marshall Huebner said Tuesday in court that rising jet
fuel costs since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran “engulfed
Spirit entirely.” The airline's fuel expenses grew by roughly $100
million “in March and April alone,” he said, and rapidly drained
Spirit’s liquidity and derailed its restructuring efforts.
He also apologized directly to Spirit’s employees and customers,
especially passengers who he said may now be completely “priced out” of
certain routes without the ultra low-cost carrier known for its
unbundled “no frills” service.
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A screen shows Spirit Airlines cancelled flights at Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
(Mike Stocker /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
 Huebner described a swift effort by
other airlines and other segments of the aviation industry to assist
Spirit's employees and customers once the airline's end looked
inevitable.
“The entire industry sprang into action to get our people home,”
Huebner said. Spirit employed about 17,000 people and carried about
50,000 passengers on its final day of operations. The final flight,
which traveled from Detroit to Dallas, landed after midnight
Saturday.
According to court filings, Spirit’s assets include its fleet of 114
Airbus A320-family planes. Most of them — 66 aircraft — were leased,
but the company owns 28 that will be part of the liquidation
process. Another 20 of the planes it owns outright were already set
to be sold under a separate, previously approved court deal. Spirit
also owns 18 spare engines.
Spirit says it plans to initially keep a skeleton crew of 130 to 150
employees who will help oversee the liquidation process, including
securing aircraft and coordinating logistics. The team, expected to
include some corporate officers, will eventually shrink to roughly
40.
In the last two weeks, Spirit was in discussions with the Trump
administration about a hoped-for rescue deal that fell through,
eliminating what the company described as its last viable path
forward. Of the potential bailout, Transportation Secretary Sean
Duffy said Saturday, “We oftentimes don’t have half a billion
dollars laying around.”
Duffy said other U.S. airlines, including United, Delta, JetBlue and
Southwest, were offering $200 one-way fares for a limited time to
travelers holding Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase.
Airlines also stepped in to assist stranded Spirit crew members, he
said, with some offering a preferential hiring process for former
Spirit employees looking for work.
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