The low-fare airline, which has struggled for years, had been trying to secure a $500 million lifeline from the Trump administration.
Spirit Airlines is preparing to shut down as early as 3 a.m. on Saturday after failing to strike a deal for a financial lifeline from the Trump administration, two people familiar with the matter said.
The budget airline reshaped aviation in the United States in recent decades by selling cheap tickets and charging fees for everything from printed boarding passes to seat selection. But high fuel prices, competition from larger airlines, the Covid-19 pandemic and an engine defect hobbled the company.
In recent weeks, the airline had been negotiating a $500 million lifeline from the Trump administration. Some of the investors that Spirit owed money to opposed the terms of the bailout, under which the government could have ended up owning 90 percent of Spirit, because it would have left them in a worse financial position if the airline eventually failed. Some Republican lawmakers were also opposed to a government bailout of Spirit.
The airline had filed plans in March to emerge as a leaner business from its second bankruptcy in recent years. But a spike in the price of jet fuel set off by the war in Iran strained that effort.
A Spirit spokeswoman declined to comment, but said the airline was operating normally.
Asked about Spirit Airlines on Friday afternoon, President Trump told reporters “We’re looking at Spirit and we’ll help them if we can, but we have to come first. America comes first.”