Spirit Airlines retires A319 fleet as it seeks to cut losses as bankruptcy looms  

Amid growing losses and rumors of an impending Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Florida-based Spirit Airlines appears to be phasing out its remaining Airbus A319 fleet. The move comes as the low-cost carrier streamlines its all-Airbus fleet to the A320 and A321 to increase commonality and flexibility within its remaining fleet.  

According to independent aviation analytics firm Ishtron and as reported by the Aviation A2Z website, all operations with the carrier’s dwindling Airbus A319 fleet will come to an end on January 8, 2025, with no flights being scheduled across the airline’s network after that date.  

Data from Cirium shows that the final A319 flights that will be operated by the carrier will be services from Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL), the company’s main hub, to Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS), Houston (IAH), and San Juan (SJU) in Puerto Rico. The last flight is scheduled to be flight NK262 from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale on that date, which will arrive at the Florida airport at 22:05 local time. 

The move contradicts Spirit’s future fleet plan, the details of which were publicized in August 2024. The plan showed that the airline would continue to operate the A319 into 2025 with a retirement plan in place that would run through the second quarter of 2025. However, with no flights planned to operate after January 8, 2025, it appears that the airline has backtracked on this plan and is now expediting the retirement process.  

According to reports, one service that had been a longstanding A319 operation has already switched to being operated by the larger A320 in the Spirit fleet. The carrier’s Fort Lauderdale to Newark route, previously serviced by an A319, has more recently been operated by A320s.  

Philip Pilosian / ShutterstockData from ch-aviation shows that the carrier has just seven 145-seat A319s still in its fleet, although four are shown as inactive, with the remaining three still flying. The airline also operates 64 A320s, 91 A320neos, 30 A321s, and 25 A321neos. The carrier has been severely impacted by the Pratt & Whitney issue that has blighted A320neo aircraft around the world, with 24 aircraft currently showing as grounded.    

The move to remove the A319 from its fleet is not a move that has been uncommon among low-cost airlines in the past. easyJet, once a huge A319 operator, has reduced its A319 fleet from more than 170 of the type to just 82 current airframes in recent years.  

The reasoning behind this is thought by analysts to be that the revenue potential from operating the larger A320 over an A319 on the same route outweighs the cost savings of operating the smaller jet, which is minimal. The same economic reasons saw the universally unpopular A318 replaced by larger A320 family aircraft on the same routes – a move that another US-based low-cost operator, Frontier, took to stem growing losses some years ago.  

Additionally, the slightly longer-range capability of the A319 over the A320 is thought not a useful asset for Spirit, which has a network well served by the A320s and A321s it currently operates.  

Carlos Yudica / ShutterstockEarlier in October 2024, AeroTime revealed that Spirit Airlines had entered initial discussions with its bondholders regarding the terms of a potential future bankruptcy filing. The company is facing a $3.3 billion debt burden, with over $1.1 billion in secured bonds set to mature within a year. The airline needs to refinance or extend these notes by October 21 to meet its credit card processor’s deadline. 

As a result, the airline has been forced to restructure its operations, aircraft fleet, and network amid ongoing financial issues. These have been exacerbated by the US Department of Transportation’s decision to reject its proposed merger with New York-based JetBlue earlier in 2024.  

Any such filing would rely on the move having sufficient support, and a formal agreement having been reached with bondholders and creditors to support it. Additionally, the carrier is looking into the restructuring of its balance sheet through an out-of-court transaction, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, October 3, 2024, although no specific details regarding this have been made public.   

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