Spirit Airlines Removing 100 Aircraft

Spirit Airlines is continuing with major changes to its operations, including a significant reduction in its fleet.

The CFO, Fred Cromer, spoke during a meeting with creditors and confirmed that its fleet would see almost 100 aircraft axed as part of ongoing restructuring.

The restructuring will see Spirit Airlines substantially shrink its operations in a bid to save hundreds of millions of dollars, a typical move for many airlines during restructuring.

For Spirit Airlines, this is the second time it has been forced to enter bankruptcy protection, and now this second time sees greater emphasis on mass changes to survive.

Typically, airlines that enter bankruptcy protection, let alone twice in as many years, will significantly reduce their operation by cutting aircraft and routes to lower costs, remain agile and build up again slowly with new strategies in mind.

With the U.S. carrier moving ahead with essentially the axing of half its fleet, which comprises almost 200 planes, significant capacity cuts are also expected across its network in response.

Spirit Airlines had already announced plans to exit specific markets in September, while also making changes to its employee base and route network; however, that was not perceived as the last of the widespread changes.

Onlookers argue that the carrier is up against it, while United Airlines’ executives argue that the airline will not survive. Meanwhile, Spirit says this is borderline obsession and inaccurate, but it’s being forced to change to give itself any chance of survival.

The Spirit Airlines Fleet

Spirit Airlines, through this removal, will essentially see half of its fleet depart, with 195 aircraft currently in its name; just 149 of these are active, while 46 units are parked.

All of the grounded aircraft are for the A320neo, with 46 units remaining parked and just 45 units active. Given that those on the ground outnumber those in the air, this is a rare sight, considering the large number of units that have been delivered.

In addition to the existing challenges that Spirit Airlines faces on a day-to-day basis, one of these has been the ongoing Pratt & Whitney engine crisis, which has affected its A320neo family fleet and led to widespread groundings, resulting in network challenges.

Spirit Airlines also flies only Airbus aircraft and, over the years, has gradually increased its reliance on the next-generation fleet, seen through the A320neo family. This has resulted in many more aircraft on order, which now have question marks about their future.

Thanks to reporting in June, visible through a 10-Q quarterly report filing, the airline said that it was continuing to assess its fleet moving forward and the impact tariffs, among other operational challenges, were having on its business.

With all this in mind, in the same filing, the airline stated that it may not only postpone the delivery of Airbus aircraft but also cancel remaining orders in a worst-case scenario.

Ultimately, news of this came before the airline even entered bankruptcy protection for the second time. However, it was still taking place during a period when many had questions about the airline’s future, which was evidently struggling to stay afloat.

According to current forecasts, the airline is expected to take delivery of approximately 100 more A320neo family aircraft, which will help complete the transition to the next-generation aircraft over the next six years.

However, given the dire financial position of the business, these planes, which were earmarked to be critical for the ongoing fleet renewal and to support future growth, are unlikely to be delivered anytime soon as a thorough restructuring takes place.