Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in a year.
The company — which is the nation’s largest budget airline — failed to secure its finances after it emerged from its previous Chapter 11 filing back in March, according to CNBC.
Spirit will continue operating, the airline confirmed on Friday.
The company had been attempting to rebrand from a no-frills value option for cost-cautious travelers to a premium brand, but consumer spending is still down, as Americans respond to inflation and fears over tariff-related price increases on staple goods.
“Since emerging from our previous restructuring, which was targeted exclusively on reducing Spirit’s funded debt and raising equity capital, it has become clear that there is much more work to be done and many more tools are available to best position Spirit for the future,” Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis said on Friday.
The company declared bankruptcy last November. Failed mergers, growing debt, and years of operating at a loss forced the company to seek Chapter 11 protections. It’s the first major U.S. airline to declare bankruptcy since 2011, according to CNN.
In 2024, the company reported a $1.2 billion net loss. That was made worse when a $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue Airways fell apart the same year. Many of the company’s Airbus jets were also forced to stay grounded after issues with the aircrafts’ engines were reported.
The company began in 1964 as a trucking company before it moved into the aviation industry in the 1980’s. At that point, the company was operating under the name Charter One Airlines, but took on the Spirit name in 1992.
Since it became Spirit, the airline has been known as a budget carrier, but its model fell out of favor during and after the pandemic, when travelers began trending toward more comfortable travel options.
In its filing, Spirit valued its assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion.
Spirit assured travelers in a social media post that it was not shutting down, but rather using bankruptcy as a pathway to future success.
“Virtually every major U.S. airline has used these tools to improve their businesses and position them for long-term success,” Spirit posted on Instagram.
