E359: The End of Spirit Airlines: What Happened, What's Next, and What It Means for Pilots

On this episode

About this episode

Spirit Airlines officially ceased operations on May 2 at 3am, and in this episode Justin sits down with Jim Higgins, Professor of Aviation at the University of North Dakota, to unpack what happened and what comes next. They dig into the chain of events that brought one of the country's most recognizable low-cost carriers to a halt — from a business model under pressure, to two Chapter 11 reorganizations, to the spike in oil prices that finally pushed Spirit past the point of recovery. Jim breaks down why the federal bailout package fell apart, why no other airline stepped in to acquire Spirit despite multiple asks, and how $9 billion in debt made a merger virtually impossible. The…