The carrier is seeking a financial lifeline from the Trump administration.
Spirit Airlines says it is “operating as usual” and declines to comment about a report that it is preparing to shut down early on 2 May after failing to receive financial aid from the US government.
Meanwhile, the administration of President Donald Trump has reportedly given Spirit a “final proposal” that perhaps could save the airline.
Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal on 1 May reported that Miramar, Florida-based Spirit is preparing to cease operations at 03:00 eastern US time on 2 May.
A representative for Spirit says the company has “declined to comment on ongoing discussions. Spirit is operating as usual”. That representative is from firm FTI Consulting, a Washington, DC-based company that has been providing Spirit with restructuring, fleet and communications support as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Trump said on 1 May that his administration “gave them a final proposal”, adding, “we’ll have an announcement sometime today”, ABC News reported.
Spirit’s website shows that it is still selling flights for 2 May and beyond, while aviation data provider Cirium shows the discounter operating a mostly full 2 May schedule.
The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Spirit’s pilots, does not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Late last month, Spirit sought $500 million in US government aide, pitching the Trump administration on the job-saving aspects of such a deal. But a funding package has not yet materialised, with apparent pushback from Spirit’s bondholders.
The White House does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Journal reported that Trump told reporters on 1 May he would still like the opportunity to rescue the airline but that only if it “was a good deal.”
A Spirit shutdown would prove massively disruptive to travellers, not to mention to Spirit’s thousands of employees.
Spirit has been operating under bankruptcy court oversight since August last year. Though in recent months it has reduced the size of its all-Airbus A320-family fleet, Spirit still operates 96 of the jets, according to fleet-data provider Cirium.
The carrier has also been on financial life support for months, according to numerous reports. But its situation became more dire in recent weeks as fuel prices spiked after the start of the US-Iran war and resulting near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Numerous Republican lawmakers balked at the idea of the US government saving a company so financially troubled it filed for bankruptcy court restructuring twice in one year— in November 2024 and then last August.
Partly under the leadership of former chief executive Ben Baldanza, widely credited for helping bring the fare-plus-fees airline business model mainstream, Spirit expanded rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, entering major markets where it went head-to-head against the largest US airlines. A windfall of profits followed.
But Spirit’s fortunes then turned south amid what some analysts have described as an over-supply of discount airline seats.
Spirit carried about 1.7 million passengers on US domestic flights in February, holding 3.9% market share, according to fleet data provider Cirium.
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