After years of financial turmoil, Spirit Airlines appears to be on the brink of shutting down.
The discount air carrier had reportedly been hoping to finalize a $500 million bailout from the federal government before running out of money, the Wall Street Journal reported. But the airline hasn’t been able to receive enough funding to keep it in business, according to the report.
President Donald Trump told reporters on May 1 that the White House had given Spirit and its creditors a final proposal in attempt to rescue the airline, though it’s making preparations to shut down if no deal is reached, Reuters reported.
Sources later said the administration had proposed $500 million in financing in exchange for warrants equivalent to 90% of Spirit’s equity, according to the report.
“We’re looking at Spirit. If we can help them, we will, but we have to come first,” Trump told reporters, according to Reuters. “If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal.”
Spirit Airlines is no stranger to financial strife. The air carrier has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in the last few years, most recently in August 2025. There was also an attempt to merge Spirit with JetBlue, another budget airline, but a federal judge rejected the deal in January 2024 after then President Biden’s U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the consolidation on antitrust grounds.
In October 2024, Spirit cut flights from Columbus, among a number of other cities, just a month before its first bankruptcy filing.
Spirit offered two nonstop flights out of Columbus – to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, respectively – as of February, according to FlyColumbus.com. As of midday on May 1, the airline was still allowing customers to purchase airfare online.
A spokesperson with the Columbus Regional Airport Authority said they couldn’t comment on whether Spirit will cease operations.
“We recommend that passengers reach out to Spirit Airlines if they have concerns,” the spokesperson said.
Spirit said in March that it planned to emerge from bankruptcy protections this summer, but experts have said the rising cost of fuel due to the U.S.-Iran war could hinder those plans and potentially force the airline to shut down altogether, according to an NPR report.
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed doubt over whether the federal government would intervene and bail out the airline on CBS Evening News last week, saying Spirit hadn’t “been run well” for a “very long time.”
“The question would be, ‘Can we do anything to save Spirit and make it viable?'” Duffy told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave. “‘Or would we be putting good money into a company that inevitably is going to be liquidated?'”
Spirit Airlines and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Spirit Airlines nears collapse, could soon halt operations, per report
Reporting by Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
