Spirit Airlines shutting down after failed effort at government rescue deal

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Spirit Airlines announced aboriginal Saturday greeting that it is ceasing operations aft the fund bearer failed to unafraid a $500 cardinal national bailout.

Spirit Aviation Holdings, the airline's genitor company, said successful a quality merchandise that it "regretfully announced" that it had "started an orderly wind-down of operations, effectual immediately."

"All Spirit flights person been cancelled, and Spirit Guests should not spell to the airport," the hose said.

The Florida-based airline, which has filed doubly for bankruptcy since 2024, precocious faced surging costs in pitchy substance due to the Iran war. CBS News reported on Friday that Spirit planned to unopen arsenic aboriginal arsenic Saturday.

The Trump administration's projected bailout would person fixed the U.S. authorities a 90% involvement successful the airline. Spirit's currency reserves had dwindled successful caller days arsenic talks with the authorities broke down, according to aggregate sources acquainted with the discussions.

Some of Spirit's bondholders, including Ken Griffin's Citadel and Ares Management Corp., had opposed the deal, U.S. officials antecedently told CBS News.

The hose manufacture faces higher costs owed to rising vigor prices, prompting carriers to rise fares and chopped unprofitable routes.

By the clip of Spirit's archetypal bankruptcy filing successful November 2024, the institution had mislaid much than $2.5 cardinal since the commencement of 2020. In 2025, Spirit chopped astir 4,000 jobs and 200 underperforming routes, ending the twelvemonth with astir 7,500 employees, including 2,000 pilots and 3,000 formation attendants, according to its latest annual report.

Spirit again filed for bankruptcy successful August 2025 and disclosed successful a regulatory filing that it had "substantial doubt" astir its quality to proceed operating.

"No frills" flying

Liquidating Spirit volition bring an extremity to an hose known for its agleam yellowish planes and rock-bottom fares. The company's roots spell backmost to 1983, erstwhile the hose was spun off from a trucking company. Initially called Charter One, the hose rebranded successful 1992 arsenic Spirit Airlines and added much planes and routes. The institution shifted to a "no frills" attack to question successful 2007, according to its union.

Trump medication officials were told that Spirit would upwind down operations wrong 24 hours, CBS News learned Friday from radical acquainted with the matter. They confirmed that the White House would not marque a last-ditch effort to prevention the airline.

When President Trump was asked astir a bailout for Spirit Airlines connected Friday, helium said, "Well, I conjecture we're looking astatine it. If we tin bash it, we'll bash it, but lone if it's a bully deal."

Spirit flew to much than 40 cities successful the U.S., with a main hub astatine Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport successful Florida, and had planetary routes to the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Edited by Faris Tanyos and Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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