President Donald Trump said the White House has submitted to Spirit Airlines “a final proposal” for a federal bailout to save the carrier, as the struggling budget airline prepares the ground to end its operations.
The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Bloomberg News have all reported that Spirit is preparing for liquidation, after soaring jet fuel costs made its planned exit from bankruptcy virtually impossible.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on ongoing discussions and told NBC News that Spirit is operating as usual.
A United Airlines representative told NBC News, “We are preparing to support Spirit customers and employees in the event of a closure and will likely have more to share later.” »
Spirit had contacted the White House in recent weeks to request financial assistance — and Trump initially seemed receptive to the idea, proposing a $500 million package the United States taking a stake in the company.
Yet the plan almost immediately faced opposition from Wall Street, Capitol Hill and even a member of Trump’s cabinet. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy suggested a bailout would be like throwing “good money after bad”.
“A lot of money was invested in Spirit, but they failed to become profitable,” Duffy said in an interview with Reuters. “So should we just anticipate the inevitable and then assume it?” »
But in remarks to the press Friday afternoon, Trump expressed doubts about the bailout.
“We are looking at it. But if we cannot reach a good agreement… no institution has been able to do it,” he said.
Trump said his administration was “trying to help them.”
“That represents 14,000 jobs,” he added. “I would say we are leading a tough deal.”
Spirit — one of five ultra-low-cost airlines in the United States — has struggled for years to maintain profitability. In the first two months of 2026, it lost $60 million — and that was even before the cost of jet fuel hit new records.
The airline attempted to sell itself to JetBlue several years ago, but found The federal judge sides with Biden-era Justice Department officials that such a combination triggered the antitrust rules.
Still, some analysts say the loss of a full-fledged airline, especially a budget carrier like Spirit, would also ultimately hurt consumers, not to mention its roughly 17,000 employees.
“Even if you’ve never flown on Spirit, you want them to be in the market to help put pressure on other major carriers,” Katy Nastro, travel expert at Going.com, told NBC News in a recent interview. “It actually helps keep prices low. So even if you’re not a big fan of Spirit, you want to see them succeed.”
At the same time, a government bailout could also set a worrying precedent, JP Morgan analysts said in a note last month, warning that Frontier and JetBlue, which have faced their own financial woes, could follow suit.
Earlier this week, a group representing low-cost airlines asked the Trump administration for $2.5 billion to offset rising fuel costs and avoid an increase in airfares.
In a statement, the Association of Value Airlines, a trade group that represents Allegiant, Avelo, Frontier, Spirit and Sun Country Airlines, said, “the government’s temporary support to preserve the industry’s vital competition is not unprecedented.”
