Spirit Airlines, the butt of many online jokes about its bare-bones flying experience, may finally be calling it quits.
Multiple outlets, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, are reporting that the budget carrier is moving forward with plans to liquidate its fleet and cease operations after a proposed $500 million federal bailout failed to materialize.
Spirit had been in talks with the Trump administration over a potential rescue deal that would have provided the struggling airline with much-needed cash in a deal that could have left the government owning a stake in the company as high as 90%.
It wouldn’t have been the first time the Trump administration took a stake in a struggling American business. Last summer, the administration announced it had acquired a 10% stake in Intel, after Trump initially called for the resignation of the chip maker’s CEO.
But not everyone was on board this time around, including some Spirit bondholders and at least one member of Trump’s cabinet.
“What we don’t want to do is put good money after bad, and there’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability. And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own that?” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Reuters in a recent interview. “Or does Spirit have some pathway to make it, and I don’t know the answer to that.”
Amid Friday’s reports of an imminent shutdown, Trump told reporters that his administration had given Spirit Airlines “a final proposal.”
“We’re looking at it. But if we can’t make a good deal… no institution has been able to do it,” Trump said, according to NBC News.
A Spirit spokesperson declined to comment to Gizmodo regarding the reports but said the airline was continuing to operate as usual.
Spirit is known for offering ultra-cheap fares while charging fees for nearly everything else, including seat selection, carry-on bags, and even printed boarding passes.
The airline has struggled financially for years following the covid-19 pandemic. Spirit has not reported an annual profit since 2019 and has already filed for bankruptcy protection twice, first in 2024 and again last year. More recently, Spirit lost roughly $60 million during the first two months of 2026 alone, according to NBC News.
And that was all before Trump’s war with Iran sent fuel prices surging. The war has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas shipments.
At least one airline already appears to be bracing for the possibility that Spirit may not survive.
“We’re preparing to support Spirit customers and employees in the event of a shutdown, and we’ll likely have more to share later,” a representative from United Airlines told NBC News.
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