While at least 14 airlines around the world have filed for bankruptcy protection in 2024, the name that most commonly comes to mind is Spirit Airlines (SAVE) .
The low-cost giant based in Florida announced that it would need Chapter 11 protection in November 2024 and, three months later in February, revealed a reorganization plan that would take Spirit private by handing over control to the biggest bondholders.
It also recently announced that Sun Country Airlines President and Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis would replace former CEO Ted Christie, who was given the boot on April 7 despite past board reassurances that he would continue to lead Spirit forward into the future.
Fellow Florida-based low-coster Silver Airways is dealing with its own bankruptcy-related upheaval; after Silver lost the right to fly into several airports over unpaid fees, a trustee assigned to its Chapter 11 case is now asking a judge to skip any bankruptcy protection efforts and take the airline straight to liquidation.
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‘Inability to solve irregularities identified in the inspections’
Over in Brazil, low-cost regional carrier Voepass lost its license to fly in March 2025 after regulators found that it failed to address their safety concerns. In August of the previous year, Voepass Flight 2283 to São Paulo from the south of the country crashed and killed all 62 passengers and crew members onboard.
“The decision, on a precautionary basis, was due to Voepass’ inability to solve irregularities identified in the inspections carried out by the Agency, as well as the non-compliance with established operating conditions,” the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) said in a statement last March.
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On April 23, Reuters reported that the airline had filed for bankruptcy protection in Brazilian courts after running up a debt of more than 209.2 million Brazilian reais ($36.78 million USD). In its court papers, Voepass claims that Chilean carrier and South American giant LATAM (LTMAQ) interfered with its ability to get on the right financial path by pulling planes used as part of their codeshare agreement
“Despite this dispute already being the subject of arbitration, the fact is that LATAM has always exercized enormous administrative interference in the management of Voepass’ business,” the airline writes in filings.
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In a statement, LATAM denies any accusations of interference and said that it suspended aircraft use as a precaution in the wake of the fatal crash.
Voepass operated flights to more than 40 destinations across Brazil.
Shutterstock.
Is the airline’s commitment to ‘resuming operations as soon as possible’ finally at an end?
Voepass had previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 and 2017.
While it was able to emerge from these by completing restructuring, the August 2024 crash caused a major hit to Voepass’ reputation among the Brazilian public while months spent without running flights continue to get the carrier further into debt that will be increasingly difficult to get out of.
In March 2025, Voepass said that it was still “committed to resuming operations as soon as possible” while also further arguing that the suspended right to fly would cause significant disruption to the “thousands of Brazilians who use regional aviation every day […] rely on its service.”
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