Spirit Aviation Holdings, the parent holding of Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) filed for voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring at the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on August 29, 2025. This marks the second time the embattled low-cost carrier will undergo the process in less than a year.

The airline said the filing had no impact on its operations and all scheduled flights will continue as planned.

"Since emerging from our previous restructuring, which was targeted exclusively on reducing Spirit's funded debt and raising equity capital, it has become clear that there is much more work to be done and many more tools are available to best position Spirit for the future," president and chief executive officer Dave Davis said in a statement.

Spirit Airlines hopes the restructuring will allow it to redesign the network, optimise the fleet size, address the cost structure, and "compete and evolve". While not divulging any specifics, the carrier said it would recentre its network on focus cities, reduce flights from "certain markets", and expand its premium product offering, "while remaining true to its original mission of making travel more accessible for everyone."

"The company has been actively engaged with certain of its largest lessors, secured noteholders and key stakeholders over the past few months as it works to refine its path forward. The Chapter 11 process will provide Spirit the tools, time and flexibility to continue ongoing discussions with all of its lessors, financial creditors and other parties to implement a financial and operational transformation of the company," the airline said.

Besides Spirit Aviation Holdings and Spirit Airlines, the other four parties that will undergo the joint Chapter 11 restructuring are Spirit Finance Cayman 1 Ltd., Spirit Finance Cayman 2 Ltd., Spirit IP Cayman Ltd., and Spirit Loyalty Cayman Ltd. The four Caymanese entities were incorporated in 2020 to raise and secure USD850 million in fresh capital.

In the initial Chapter 11 petition filing, Spirit Aviation Holdings said it had between 25,001 and 50,000 creditors and between USD1 billion and USD10 billion in liabilities. The company's five largest unsecured creditors are:

  • the US Department of Treasury (USD136 million);
  • advertising agency Charles Tombras Advertising (USD7.8 million);
  • Lufthansa Technik (USD5.7 million);
  • Aerospace Turbine Srvc & Sol LLC (USD1.8 million); and
  • Microsoft Licencing (USD1.7 million).

The company did not disclose its secured creditors yet.

The low-cost carrier previously filed for Chapter 11 in November 2024 and emerged from the restructuring in March 2025, having equitised around USD795 million in debt and raised USD350 million in new capital.