Clearly you don’t get out much.

Europe and Asia have a lot of ULCCs with order-books, and even the European carriers that aren’t ULCC are still flying their narrowbody airplanes in ULCC configuration.

First/business class on short haul intra-Europe flights is so diluted, it’s like being on Frontier but with a little curtain between row 4 and 5.

Spirit’s big front seat is a private-jet experience compared to the Lufthansa narrow-body business-class experience.

 

I disagree that the Europe first/business is not as a good as Spirit BFS. The service, food and overall experience is on a scale that Spirit doesn’t achieve with the BFS. The hot meals, drinks and snacks are well additions you don’t get on NK. Also the flight attendants on BA and LH seem to provide a more consistent level of service levels vs NK.

 

Hot meals? On intra-europe? Maybe like 20 years ago. That ship is long gone now.

 

Had one last week between LHR and MUC.

 

disagree

the hard product is indeed standard coach with a blocked middle seat, but it does come with excellent hot meals. Like US first class from the 90’s

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/spiri...213349772.html

I'm afraid the end is near....

 

I think this is actually a positive step. These guys aren’t cheap and specialize if pre packaged bankruptcy/M&A. I think all options are on the table at the moment. It’s better to have them hire these groups then nothing and drive the airline into the ground alone.

more news will come in the next month or two. With up to 3M in holdbacks per day plus 2/3M loss on average per day plus consulting fees of about 165K from these groups per day the runway is short. Could be another pre package bankruptcy, or setting up for something else.

I don’t believe these groups would be hired if a liquidation was coming. That would not make sense to hire aviation strategist this late in the game for nothing.

in the end of the day, very few people have an actual idea of what will happen.

some backround for you on these groups:

PJT Partners is a boutique, advisory‑focused investment bank, highly regarded for its work in restructuring and corporate transactions. They deliver:

• Restructuring & Special Situations: Guiding companies through distress scenarios such as bankruptcies, debt reorganizations, recapitalizations, distressed M&A, exchange offers, and out‑of‑court solutions .
• Strategic Advisory & Capital Markets: Advising on M&A, capital raising, shareholder issues, and reshaping corporate strategy.


FTI Consulting is a global professional services firm with deep capabilities in:
•Turnaround & Restructuring: They help troubled businesses improve cash flow, negotiate loan covenants, restructure debt, manage liquidity, and lead formal reorganization efforts .
• Aviation-Specific Strategy: FTI offers tailored support in fleet optimization, operations stabilization, procurement, network planning, labor negotiations, and regulatory communications for airlines .
• Strategic Communications: Managing messaging across media, regulators, employees, investors, and unions—key during turbulent transitions

Seabury Airline Strategy Group — Commercial & Fleet Strategy

Seabury, combined with Airline Strategy Group, offers specialized aviation consulting:
• Network & Fleet Planning: Creating long‑term fleet deployment plans and route strategies with proprietary tools .
• Revenue & Distribution Optimization: Enhancing revenue through advanced pricing, sales strategies, direct-ticketing models, and optimizing ancillary income .
• Commercial Strategy & Operations: Providing advice on partnerships, strategic planning, commercial operations, M&A, and fleet/operational efficiency .
• Financing & Transactions: They advise on aircraft transactions, leasing, financing, restructuring, and balance sheet structuring specific to aviation assets .

 

that could be fun.

 

Who knows what Spirit is paying for those leases. Maybe the market rate is actually higher now than what Spirit is paying for them. If Spirit continues to pay for them, great, if Spirit want a discount on them, it might be worth it to shop for other customers. I think interiors and paint jobs could be paid for buy the leasing airline anyways, maybe wrapped into the leasing cost. So whomever wants the leases would be paying for the retrofit anyhow.

 

if a concessionary labor contract tricks private equity into keeping spirit pilots current at 2/3 pay while they wait on legacy class dates… i could imagine worse outcomes