Spirit Airlines’ recent Chapter 11 filing was hardly surprising. The airline hasn’t been profitable in years, and debt payments were looming large.
The airline has forged a pre-arranged reorganisation with bond-holders, and also released a turnaround plan that’s arguably a business model shift away from the aggressive product unbundling that served Spirit well for many years.
But none of its planned changes are new or innovative in a market dominated by larger airlines, whose products will remain superior to Spirit’s.
For now, Spirit’s bond-holders seem willing to give the company time to execute on its plan; however, the airline’s fate is far from certain.