How Spirit Airlines Fell Apart: A Complete Timeline [Updated]
Photo Credit: Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy twice. Wikimedia Commons / Tomás Del Coro
Skift Take
Spirit's collapse didn't happen overnight: A blocked merger, two bankruptcies, a bailout that never came. Four years of mounting problems, and in the end, it was fuel prices that sealed it.
Updated May 2, 2026.
Spirit Airlines, once among the most profitable carriers in the U.S., has become a case study in how quickly an airline can unravel — two bankruptcies, thousands of furloughs, and multiple failed merger attempts in under four years. And now, liquidation.
Here's a timeline of how Spirit got here — in 5 phases.
Phase 1: The Bidding War February 2022: Frontier Airlines Seeks to Buy SpiritFrontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines unveiled plans to merge in a deal that would have created the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S.
The two carriers aimed to close the transaction — valued at $6.6 billion, including the $2.9 billion equity value of Spirit as well as net debt and operating lease liabilities — in the second half of 2022.
April 2022: JetBlue's $3.6 Billion Competing BidSpirit confirmed that it received an unsolicited offer from JetBlue Airways. JetBlue’s $3.6 billion bid offers investors
