Spirit Aviation Holdings, parent of Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International), has reportedly floated the possibility of the US government taking an equity stake in the company to help avoid potential liquidation, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

This report came after sources told trade publication The Air Current that Spirit could be seeking a bailout from the US government. The ultra-low-cost carrier, currently under its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedure in a row, is reportedly considering liquidation as high fuel prices derail its restructuring.

The reported proposal of the airline for the US government to inject cash into the company came after the White House brokered a deal in 2025 to become one of the biggest shareholders in Intel Corp., Bloomberg recalled.

“Spirit is looking for a lifeline,” a source told CBS News. President Donald Trump subsequently said during an interview with CNBC that he would "love somebody to buy Spirit" and added that "maybe the federal government should help that one out."

ch-aviation reached out to Spirit for comment, but it was not immediately available.

Prior to the US-Israel attack on Iran and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which have pushed up oil prices globally, Spirit had been poised to exit bankruptcy by this summer, having reached an agreement with creditors and heavily reduced the size of its fleet.

According to Spirit’s updated Chapter 11 disclosure statement released on April 6, the company said it believed that in the case of a Chapter 7 and liquidation, creditors could receive between USD1.43 billion and USD1.7 billion in net proceeds available for distribution.

Separately, President Trump also addressed the rumours linking United Airlines and American Airlines. He said: "I told my people, but with American it's doing fine, and United is doing very well. I know the United people, they are doing very well. I don't like having them merge." United's CEO reportedly pitched the idea of a merger between the two airlines, while American publicly said it had no interest in a business combination.