Originally Posted by
FriendlyPilot
Not losses. Negative cash flow.
Part of the BK was a new "clean slate" financial reporting system because a bunch of debt has been converted to equity. Spirit isn't performing any better than it was financially, its just not paying as much debt. The problem is the market can see this and this is reflected in the value of the company. If someone wanted to buy Spirit that debt will still have to be paid off through a buyout offer, which is no different than acquiring it. If anything this makes the debt harder to clear unless the new owners will take some kind of note, which I doubt they will do. This is why they rejected the Frontier offer. They want their $2.1B or whatever it is now.
The other problem is Spirit should not still be burning any cash in June/July. I've read on here that Spirit is losing $800 per flight as well as Spirit is "only barely burning cash". Neither of those are good, because an airline should be bringing in a lot of cash in Q2 and Q3 to make it through Q4 and Q1. Especially when $500M of cash disappeared in Q1 of 2025. I don't think Spirit has enough liquidity to survive that again. This is why Spirit deferred planes. No cash to spend on CapEx and loan terms would have been horrible.
This is why pilots have left and are still leaving.
Pilots might believe that you can't afford to go from $300k to $125K (1st year at a major), but if this place shuts down pilots will go from $300k to $0 and then there will be a 9 month to 2 year period to interview, CJO and class date before the pay starts again. The people that left just saved themselves from being jobless for an unknown period of time and took control of their destiny.
Overall Assessment
• Inaccurate: The dismissal of losses (Spirit has both losses and negative cash flow), the claim that debt-to-equity makes debt “harder to clear” in a buyout, and the reason for rejecting Frontier’s offer (not about a $2.1 billion valuation) are incorrect.
• Speculative: The “clean slate financial reporting system” is a loose interpretation of fresh start accounting (partially accurate). The $800 per flight loss and $500 million Q1 cash burn are unverified but plausible given Spirit’s financials.
Key Takeaways
• Spirit’s Q1 2025 financials show a $142.6 million net loss, with a $10.9 million loss in the Successor period, reflecting ongoing unprofitability despite restructuring.
• The debt-to-equity conversion and liquidity measures (e.g., aircraft deferrals, financing) have improved Spirit’s balance sheet, but operational challenges and a competitive environment threaten sustainability.
• The post overstates or misinterprets some aspects (e.g., Frontier offer, debt in buyouts) and relies on unverified figures.