Pilots at cash-strapped budget carrier Spirit Airlines have sent an open letter to a key bondholder, pleading with it to keep on financing the beleaguered company as it navigates itself through a complicated Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
The letter comes less than a month after Spirit secured a $100 million funding lifeline at the eleventh hour, amidst rumors that at least two rivals were preparing to activate contingency plans in case of Spirit’s sudden demise.
Pilots send open letter to key bondholder
On Tuesday, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents flight crew at the Florida-based Spirit Airlines, sent an open letter to the carrier’s bondholders, including a key player, an investment firm known as Citadel.
Jason Ambrosi, president of ALPA International, and Ryan P. Muller
Chairman of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council said in their joint letter that Citadel and other bondholders have a crucial decision to make.
Will they continue to fund Spirit as it continues its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, or withhold any further cash and let the airline fall into liquidation?
The letter warned: “What remains unresolved is whether its bondholders will honor their existing funding commitments and allow a restructuring to proceed, or whether they will instead force a liquidation that would destroy South Florida’s hometown airline.”
“They have a choice to make — continue funding and allow Spirit’s restructuring to move forward or withhold funding and shutter thousands of jobs, leaving a deep void in the South Florida economy,” the letter continued.
“Access to this funding could mean the difference between an airline that emerges from Chapter 11 and an airline forced into liquidation.”
Spirit secured $100 million lifeline in December
Spirit entered Chapter 11 for the second time in less than six months last August. While the first Chapter 11 process was just focused on securing additional funding, this time, the airline is attempting to carry out a root-and-branch restructuring of its business in order to survive.
Spirit is attempting to slash costs and shrink itself back to profitability by cutting unprofitable routes, returning expensive and unneeded airplanes to their lessors, and significantly reducing its workforce.
Ambrosi and Muller say that much of the restructuring work has already been completed and that “Spirit is well on its way to emerging from bankruptcy proceedings.”
What it still needs, however, is further funding from its bondholders.
Last year, Spirit reached a deal with existing lenders and debtors to release up to $475 million in funding known as Debtor-In-Possession financing to keep the airline afloat.
This funding would be released in installments. An initial draw of $100 million from the DIP pot was authorized in October, and a second draw of $75 million was made in November.
For the third draw of $100 million, Spirit was required to meet several critical predefined conditions by December 13. But having failed to meet those conditions by the deadline, the immediate future of Spirit was put in doubt.
Thankfully, the airline reached a compromise agreement with its lenders to amend the DIP agreement. Part of that compromise agreement was a promise by Spirit to start looking into a potential strategic transaction.
Is Spirit in merger talks with Frontier again?
A strategic transaction is code for selling the airline to a rival, and Denver-based Frontier Airlines has once again been named as a possible bidder.
Sources cited by Bloomberg claimed Spirit had reignited merger talks with Frontier after several failed attempts to secure a deal. The sources cautioned, however, that the talks were in an early stage and could still fail.
A merger between Spirit and Frontier was first announced in 2022, but Spirit’s shareholders ended up abandoning that deal for a rival bid from JetBlue. The planned merger between JetBlue and Spirit was, however, opposed by the Biden administration’s DOJ, which eventually prevailed in federal court.
Frontier later made a second offer to acquire Spirit in 2024, but unilaterally called off negotiations. In 2025, Frontier made a third offer for Spirit, but this was rejected as Spirit claimed its rival was undervaluing the business.
The letter in full
On Tuesday, Jason Ambrosi, president of ALPA International, and Ryan P. Muller
Chairman of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council, penned the following open letter to Spirit’s bondholders.
“Spirit Airlines is South Florida’s hometown airline and for thousands of working families, it is far more than a logo on the tail of an aircraft. Spirit employs over 15,000 nationally, directly and indirectly, including more than 6,000 in Florida. These include over 2,000 pilots nationwide and close to 1,000 pilots in Florida, who work alongside flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, instructors, ground personnel, and corporate staff. These are skilled, middle-class careers that support families and help drive the region’s economy.
That is why what happens next in Spirit’s bankruptcy matters so deeply; not only to the employees who built this airline, but to South Florida itself. Spirit may be in Chapter 11, but bankruptcy does not equate to collapse. This process exists to allow companies to restructure their debt, stabilize operations, and emerge stronger. That is the purpose of this process.
Much of the restructuring work is already complete, and Spirit is well on its way to emerging from bankruptcy proceedings. Over the past few months, Spirit’s pilots and other frontline workers have stepped forward in good faith to help save the company. Spirit pilots and flight attendants have given up $100 million in concessions because they believe in a successful reorganization and a future for Spirit Airlines.
What remains unresolved is whether its bondholders will honor their existing funding commitments and allow a restructuring to proceed, or whether they will instead force a liquidation that would destroy South Florida’s hometown airline.
One of Spirit’s principal bondholders is Citadel, a Miami-based firm with significant influence in this restructuring. Citadel and the other bondholders are in a key position to decide what happens next. They have a choice to make — continue funding and allow Spirit’s restructuring to move forward or withhold funding and shutter thousands of jobs leaving a deep void in the South Florida economy.
With that influence comes responsibility not only to the process, but to the community in which Spirit operates and the thousands of workers whose futures are tied to this airline’s survival. Access to this funding could mean the difference between an airline that emerges from Chapter 11 and an airline forced into liquidation. The ask is straightforward: fulfill their existing funding commitments and allow the restructuring to move forward.
Liquidation would not be just a business outcome. It would mean a collapse that would eliminate jobs and permanently disrupt a community. If Spirit is liquidated, thousands of employees will lose their livelihoods. South Florida will lose one of its most important homegrown aviation employers. Families will be displaced. Small businesses connected to travel and aviation will suffer immediate harm. The regional and national ripple effects will be real and long-lasting. A preventable airline shutdown on this scale would also reduce competition in air travel nationwide, leading to fewer choices and higher fares for travelers.
This moment does not require new ideas. It requires finishing what has already begun. It requires honoring commitments made in bankruptcy court and providing the remaining funding necessary for Spirit Airlines to emerge as a going concern.
Spirit’s labor groups have stepped up — putting their livelihoods on the line to save the airline. Now, the financial stakeholders who have the ability to finish this restructuring must do the same. Thousands of South Florida families who believed in this process did their part, and they are asking Citadel and other bondholders to do theirs.”
