Spirit Aviation Holdings, parent entity of Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International), is seeking authorisation from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy court to sell thirteen owned A320-200s and seven owned A321-200s via bidding as part of its ongoing financial restructuring. It seeks to raise at least USD533 million from the sale.

It has scheduled an auction to take place on April 20, 2026, with the deadline to participate in the bidding on April 1. At this time, the 'stalking horse' buyer is CSDS Asset Management LLC, which can be outbid if larger offers are presented.

The company is contemplating the sale of all aircraft to a single buyer, as this is “critical to maximising value for the debtors estates,” chief financial officer Fred Cromer said in a statement before the court.

The ultra-low-cost carrier owns forty-eight Airbus aircraft. As part of its revised business plan, it has been actively marketing twenty of these as part of “efforts to optimise the fleet and monetise certain assets” to improve its financial position. Removing them from the fleet will reduce related labour, maintenance, storage, flying, and other associated costs.

Spirit embarked on its latest Chapter 11 process with a fleet of over 200 aircraft. At this time, the company expects to emerge with a fleet of 94 Airbus narrowbodies, 28 owned and 66 leased, it said in a filing.

All aircraft to be bid were previously included in a now-failed sale to GA Telesis, Spirit explained. At the time, in October 2024, Spirit sought to sell twenty-three A320 and A321 aircraft to GA Telesis for USD519 million, as part of the company’s first Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedure. The sale was eventually cancelled, with only three aircraft removed from Spirit’s fleet, A320-200s N632NK (msn 6331) and N695NK (msn 8696), and A321-200 N657NK (msn 6672).

According to the terms and conditions between Spirit and CSDS Asset Management, all aircraft will be delivered in “as is, where is” and “with all faults” conditions.

Spirit will sell the following aircraft, along their V2500 engines: N694NK (msn 8632), N638NK (msn 6463), N639NK (msn 6487), N650NK (msn 7724), N649NK (msn 7679), N647NK (msn 7635), N658NK (msn 6736), N696NK (msn 8824), N693NK (msn 8659), N692NK (msn 8611), N682NK (msn 7957), N681NK (msn 7908), N678NK (msn 7857), N675NK (msn 7668), N674NK (msn 7462), N640NK (msn 6507), N642NK (msn 6586), N691NK (msn 8614), N673NK (msn 3795), and N641NK (msn 6566). All A320-200s are priced at USD26.5 million and all A321-200s are priced at USD27 million.

The aircraft will be delivered to the buyer in five separate lots, with the first four arriving 45 days after the entry of the sale approval order, Spirit said. The fifth group, comprising two aircraft, will be delivered 150 days after the order.