Spirit Airlines airplanes sit parked at Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., April 23, 2026.
Marco Bello | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration gave a “final” bailout proposal for Spirit Airlines as the budget carrier could be forced to liquidate without a lifeline.
Talks with bondholders for a government bailout this week have not yielded a deal as of Friday. The Trump administration last month had offered a $500 million loan that could have given the government up to a 90% stake in the Florida-based airline, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to speak about the discussions.
“If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal this weekend, because they haven’t gotten a deal looking at it,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. “I said I’d like to save the jobs but we’ll have an announcement sometime today. … We gave them a final proposal.”
The White House, the Department of Transportation and the Commerce Department didn’t immediate respond to a request for comment.
Spirit declined to comment on liquidation plans. The airline’s lawyer, Marshall Huebner, told a bankruptcy court in New York on April 23 that Spirit’s cash “is not going to last for very much longer.”
The carrier is in its second bankruptcy in less than a year and now has the added challenge of a spike in jet fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict.
United Airlines said the carrier is “preparing to support Spirit customers and employees” if Spirit shuts down and strands crews and passengers, a spokeswoman told CNBC. Other airlines are likely to follow suit.
American Airlines said it has “immediately implemented fare caps on Main Cabin tickets for Spirit routes where we also offer nonstop service and will continue to support as many customers as possible.” JetBlue also said it would provide passengers and crews affected by a potential Spirit shutdown with flight options.
Spirit, which pioneered the low-cost budget airline model, has been challenged for years by rising costs, changing consumer tastes and a engine recall. A planned acquisition of Spirit by JetBlue Airways was successfully challenged by the Biden administration two years ago.
The airline had expected to emerge from bankruptcy midyear before the jump in fuel prices.
Spirit flew around 1.7 million U.S. domestic passengers, with a 3.9% market share in the U.S. market, as of February, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That was down from 5.1% market share last year the airline axed flights to cut costs.
