Three months after filing for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit Airlines has fully emerged from bankruptcy proceedings with a plan that would take the low-cost airline private by ceding control to its biggest bondholders.
The restructuring plan had been approved by a bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York on Feb. 20 and, according to a statement issued at the time by now-departed CEO Ted Christie, left the low-cost airline “better positioned for long-term success.”
The restructuring plan involved eliminating $795 million in funded debt and securing $350 million in fresh equity investments.
Spirit shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on November 18 at the same time as the bankruptcy announcement and were being traded exclusively over-the-counter on a decentralized marketplace.
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This is how much the newly-relisted Spirit shares are going for in June
While the communicated plan is still to eventually take Spirit private, the airline’s shares were approved for relisting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); trading officially began on April 29, 2025 under the ticker FLYY.
The pre-bankruptcy ticker had been (SAVE) .
The shares are currently (as of the morning of June 2) trading at $5.99 and are down 28% since opening at $8.28 at the end of April. Further details of taking Spirit private have still not being expanded upon by the airline or the investment firms after the initial announcement.
Related: Spirit is going private (here is what you need to know)
Dave Davis, who replaced pushed-out Christie in April, called the relisted stock an important step as the airline “remain[s] focused on returning to profitability and positioning our airline for long-term success.”
The dropping share price represents investor hesitation given the instability surrounding the airline over the last six months. The over $3.27 billion in debt that Spirit ran up before filing for bankruptcy first began accruing during the travel drop during the covid-19 pandemic and was exacerbated by a recall of the Pratt & Whitney engines and a failed merger with JetBlue Airways (JBLU) .
Spirit Airlines took several steps to bring down the debt load that forced it to file for bankruptcy protection.
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Spirit Airlines had a tumultuous year but here is where things stand now
In its efforts to bring in more profits, Spirit scrapped its previous base fare model and introduced fare classes with increasingly more features such as baggage and extra legroom. It has also scrapped certain unprofitable routes while launching in new cities like South Carolina’s Columbia.
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The bondholders between whom ownership will be shared include investment firms Citadel Advisors, Pacific Investment Management Company and UBS Asset Management.
Citadel, which was founded by billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, is the largest single holder of Spirit bond notes with approximately $149.3 million of debt through affiliates. The airline’s strong brand recognition amid travelers made it attractive to investors despite the heavy debt load and challenges remaining competitive.
Other new executive appointments announced after the Spirit board replaced Christie by Davis include new Senior Commercial Advisor Trey Urbahn and Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Duncan Dee. Urbahn rose to leadership roles at airlines like JetBlue, Etihad and TAP Air Portugal while Dee is a Canadian aviation analyst who spent the last decades providing commentary to national news outlets like CBC, CTV and Global News.
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