Spirit Now Sure As It Emerges From Bankruptcy
08-29-2025 | 01:18 AM
#1531
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 364
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From: CA
Frontier Air Chairman Said to Meet With Spirit Air Executives
2025-08-28 23:08:04 GMT
By Mary Schlangenstein
(Bloomberg) -- Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. has engaged
rival Frontier Group Holdings Inc. in high-level talks about the
carrier’s ongoing efforts to chart a path forward less than six
months after emerging from bankruptcy.
Spirit Chairman Robert Milton sat down early this week with
Bill Franke, the Frontier chair, near Spirit’s headquarters in
Dania Beach, Florida, according to a person familiar with the
matter.
Spirit’s chief executive officer, Dave Davis, was also at
the meeting, which was initiated by Milton, the person said.
Spirit Aviation is the parent of Spirit Airlines.
The Florida talks focused on Spirit’s efforts to rebuild
and the broader state of the US airline industry, and there was
no discussion around an acquisition, said the person, who asked
not to be named because the meeting was private.
A Spirit representative didn’t respond to requests for
comment. Franke declined to comment through his Indigo Partners
private equity firm.
The meeting occurred less than a week after Spirit secured
a lifeline by borrowing all of the $275 million available
through a revolving credit facility, allowing it to avoid a
liquidity crisis that had threatened its ability to accept
credit card payments.
The airline, which warned investors earlier this month it
might not survive if it can’t raise cash quickly enough, has
said it may sell aircraft, real estate and excess airport gates.
It also could seek to renegotiate costly aircraft leasing
contracts.
Spirit’s efforts to turn around its operations ran up
against a dramatic falloff in US air travel earlier this year as
Americans grappled with high prices, inflation and economic
uncertainty.
Frontier and Franke have pushed for years for a combination
of the two lower-cost carriers, which once specialized in
offering heavily discounted ticket prices while charging
travelers for anything else — including printed boarding passes
and inflight water. Both have recently begun to offer more
upscale options in a bid to expand their customer base.
Read More: It’s The End of Cheap Flying as Americans Tire
of Airline Fees
Spirit rejected an 11th-hour Frontier offer in January,
following its November bankruptcy filing. The $2.2 billion
proposal was “inadequate and unactionable,” Spirit said at that
time.
Moody’s Ratings downgraded its rating on Spirit on Aug. 22,
citing the carrier’s “deteriorating liquidity” and forecast that
it could burn through more than $500 million in cash this year
because of weak domestic leisure travel demand and a difficult
pricing environment.
Read more: Spirit Downgraded After Borrowing Cash to Reduce
Default Risk
Spirit filed for Chapter 11 protection in November to
restructure about $1.6 billion in debt after losing ground post-
pandemic as larger airlines lured travelers away by offering
more basic-economy fares.
It was also hit by an engine manufacturing defect that
grounded a portion of its aircraft fleet and historically high
labor costs under new contracts.
The carrier emerged from bankruptcy protection in March.
The airline reduced debt by $795 million during the
bankruptcy by converting it into equity stakes for its largest
bondholders including Citadel Advisors, Pacific Investment
Management Co. and Western Asset Management Co.
--With assistance from Eliza Ronalds-Hannon and Steven Church.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at [email protected]
Eric Johnson, Chester Dawson
2025-08-28 23:08:04 GMT
By Mary Schlangenstein
(Bloomberg) -- Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. has engaged
rival Frontier Group Holdings Inc. in high-level talks about the
carrier’s ongoing efforts to chart a path forward less than six
months after emerging from bankruptcy.
Spirit Chairman Robert Milton sat down early this week with
Bill Franke, the Frontier chair, near Spirit’s headquarters in
Dania Beach, Florida, according to a person familiar with the
matter.
Spirit’s chief executive officer, Dave Davis, was also at
the meeting, which was initiated by Milton, the person said.
Spirit Aviation is the parent of Spirit Airlines.
The Florida talks focused on Spirit’s efforts to rebuild
and the broader state of the US airline industry, and there was
no discussion around an acquisition, said the person, who asked
not to be named because the meeting was private.
A Spirit representative didn’t respond to requests for
comment. Franke declined to comment through his Indigo Partners
private equity firm.
The meeting occurred less than a week after Spirit secured
a lifeline by borrowing all of the $275 million available
through a revolving credit facility, allowing it to avoid a
liquidity crisis that had threatened its ability to accept
credit card payments.
The airline, which warned investors earlier this month it
might not survive if it can’t raise cash quickly enough, has
said it may sell aircraft, real estate and excess airport gates.
It also could seek to renegotiate costly aircraft leasing
contracts.
Spirit’s efforts to turn around its operations ran up
against a dramatic falloff in US air travel earlier this year as
Americans grappled with high prices, inflation and economic
uncertainty.
Frontier and Franke have pushed for years for a combination
of the two lower-cost carriers, which once specialized in
offering heavily discounted ticket prices while charging
travelers for anything else — including printed boarding passes
and inflight water. Both have recently begun to offer more
upscale options in a bid to expand their customer base.
Read More: It’s The End of Cheap Flying as Americans Tire
of Airline Fees
Spirit rejected an 11th-hour Frontier offer in January,
following its November bankruptcy filing. The $2.2 billion
proposal was “inadequate and unactionable,” Spirit said at that
time.
Moody’s Ratings downgraded its rating on Spirit on Aug. 22,
citing the carrier’s “deteriorating liquidity” and forecast that
it could burn through more than $500 million in cash this year
because of weak domestic leisure travel demand and a difficult
pricing environment.
Read more: Spirit Downgraded After Borrowing Cash to Reduce
Default Risk
Spirit filed for Chapter 11 protection in November to
restructure about $1.6 billion in debt after losing ground post-
pandemic as larger airlines lured travelers away by offering
more basic-economy fares.
It was also hit by an engine manufacturing defect that
grounded a portion of its aircraft fleet and historically high
labor costs under new contracts.
The carrier emerged from bankruptcy protection in March.
The airline reduced debt by $795 million during the
bankruptcy by converting it into equity stakes for its largest
bondholders including Citadel Advisors, Pacific Investment
Management Co. and Western Asset Management Co.
--With assistance from Eliza Ronalds-Hannon and Steven Church.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at [email protected]
Eric Johnson, Chester Dawson
08-29-2025 | 03:45 AM
#1533
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 2,652
Likes: 105
I flew with some of those guys at a previous company. Basically ATA tried to expand too fast, got bit trying to compete against the legacies, and fell back to more reliance on their charter business. That took a hit along with the contracting market and raising fuel prices. Employees went to bed with jobs and woke up to a company that was out of business. They shut down overnight and then filed for bankruptcy. Passengers and employees were stranded all over the system. I’m I remember correctly that’s where Continental and Delta got their 757-300’s. Hope that doesn’t repeat, but the similarities are definitely there.
08-29-2025 | 05:24 AM
#1534
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 5,575
Likes: 315
I flew with some of those guys at a previous company. Basically ATA tried to expand too fast, got bit trying to compete against the legacies, and fell back to more reliance on their charter business. That took a hit along with the contracting market and raising fuel prices. Employees went to bed with jobs and woke up to a company that was out of business. They shut down overnight and then filed for bankruptcy. Passengers and employees were stranded all over the system. I’m I remember correctly that’s where Continental and Delta got their 757-300’s. Hope that doesn’t repeat, but the similarities are definitely there.
08-29-2025 | 05:47 AM
#1537
Line Holder
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 472
Likes: 54
I flew with some of those guys at a previous company. Basically ATA tried to expand too fast, got bit trying to compete against the legacies, and fell back to more reliance on their charter business. That took a hit along with the contracting market and raising fuel prices. Employees went to bed with jobs and woke up to a company that was out of business. They shut down overnight and then filed for bankruptcy. Passengers and employees were stranded all over the system. I’m I remember correctly that’s where Continental and Delta got their 757-300’s. Hope that doesn’t repeat, but the similarities are definitely there.
Delta didn’t get any of the 757-300s. Wrong engines. All of the -300s at DAL are former NWA.
08-29-2025 | 05:50 AM
#1538
On Reserve
Joined: Nov 2021
Posts: 103
Likes: 8
08-29-2025 | 05:57 AM
#1539
Max Days Off
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 141
Likes: 13
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