Spirit Airlines will cut its fleet in half as part of its restructuring plan, the company revealed in a bankruptcy court document published on Wednesday (December 3).
The airline will retain up to 28 A320neo family aircraft, removing the rest of from its fleet, including their associated engines, once the restructuring plan comes into effect. The document noted that at minimum the airline will retain at least 10 of the aircraft type.
In Spirit's third-quarter results, the airline said it had 91 A320neo and 32 A321neo aircraft, as of the end of September 2025.
Additionally, Spirit will keep at least 78 of the older A320ceo family aircraft, with all the remaining removed from its fleet.
As of the end of September, the airline had 91 of the older A320 family jets.
In total, Spirit had 214 aircraft in its fleet. Even with the maximum number of A320neo family aircraft allowed in its plan, the reduction means the airline will cut its fleet in half to 106 aircraft in total.
In its third-quarter earnings report, the airline said it will close its maintenance stations and warehouse operations in Chicago and Baltimore from the start of next year. Management said it will make “volume-based staffing adjustments” across its technical operation stations.
Spirit said it expects to furlough up to 365 pilots and downgrade 170 captains to first officers in the first quarter of 2026. This follows the airline furloughing around 270 pilots in November and downgrading 140 captains to first officers in October.
“We continue to realign our network to focus on markets where we have a strong positioning, where leisure travel demand is high, and where we can attract travellers who value our new product offerings,” the company said. “These changes are expected to support pricing premiums and generate higher per seat revenues.”
Spirit narrowed its operating losses during the third quarter of 2025, the airline has revealed in an SEC filing.
With its bankruptcy proceedings ongoing, the airline reported a third-quarter operating loss of $134.9 million, improving from a $296.4 million operating loss a year prior.
While operating revenues fell from $1.2bn last year to $958.5 million this year, operating expenses also fell to $1.1bn — compared to $1.5bn last year.
Net loss widened slightly from $308.2 million in last year's third quarter to $317.5 million in this year's.
