Spirit Aviation Holdings, parent of Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale International), filed a motion on May 4, 2026, requesting US bankruptcy court authorisation to wind down operations after it ceased all flight operations on May 2.

In the motion, the company requested the approval of its wind-down on an emergency basis. It told the court that “a massive and sustained increase in fuel prices” triggered by recent geopolitical events had led to a rapid and unexpected decline in its liquidity situation. Spirit incurred nearly USD100 million in incremental fuel costs between March 1 and April 30.

Despite searching for capital and new sources of savings or liquidity, “it became clear on Thursday [April 30] that sufficient incremental liquidity will not be found, and there are no longer any viable paths to a restructuring or continued operations.” The carrier had engaged in conversations with the Trump administration to obtain a rescue package, but these efforts proved insufficient after an agreement between a group of creditors and the government could not be reached.

Additionally, Spirit is seeking to modify a bankruptcy loan to have the necessary funding to proceed with a sale of its assets, which include owned aircraft and spare engines and parts.

Spirit will endeavour to sell its aircraft. For any aircraft that remain unsold, it will make them available “as-is where-is.” It will also sell all owned spare engines and parts. A significant quantity of its non-fleet assets will be put up for sale for USD1 million.

ch-aviation fleets data shows Spirit owned fifty-seven aircraft, namely thirty A320-200s and twenty-seven A321-200s. Twenty of these were already sold to CSDS Asset Management in a bidding process that took place during Spirit’s Chapter 11 protracted bankruptcy process.

To oversee the wind-down, the company has asked to retain around 150 employees, to be reduced to 40 after the first few months. It had more than 11,200 employees when it filed for Chapter 11 for the second time in August 2025.