Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy protection
Holiday travel unlikely to take hit, experts say
By: Zach Wichter
USA Today
..... Spirit Airlines officially filed for bankruptcy protection Monday [11/18/2024] after the pioneer of no-frills travel in the U.S. struggled with a long run of quarterly losses, failed merger attempts and looming debt maturities.
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Spirit's troubles deepened after the collapse of its $3.8 billion planned merger with JetBlue Airways in January [2024] and the impact of RTX's Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines snag that grounded many of its Airbus A320 aircraft across airlines.
..... Spirit exclusively files planes in the A320 family, so it has been heavily impacted by these faults.
..... The airline, which expects to be delisted from the New York
Stock Exchange in the near term, listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion each, according to a court filing on Monday. [11/18/2024]
..... As part of the prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the airline has received commitment for a $350 million equity investment form existing bondholders. Existing bondholders will also provide $300 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which, together will available cash, is expected to support the airline though the Chapter 11 process.
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The carrier said it expect to continue its flight operations through the proceeding and customers can book and fly without interruption. Most, if not all, flights should operate as scheduled in the near term.
..... Robert W. Mann Jr., president of R.W. Mann and Company, an independent airline consultancy, told USA Today that it;s especially unlikely for Thanksgiving travel to be affect4ed, but it is possible there could be schedule changes and cancellations later in the winter.
..... The Department of Transportation recently finalized guidelines that require airlines to provide passengers with a full refund if their flight is canceled or delayed more than three hours on a domestic itinerary or six hours on an international itinerary for any reason. Travelers are only eligible for the refunds, if they choose not to travel on the delayed flight or on an alternative itinerary offered by the airline.
..... Contributing: Reuters