President Donald Trump could come to the rescue of the struggling Spirit Airlines by buying out the company, he said during an Oval Office event on Thursday.
The budget airline has been struggling financially over the past several years, filing for bankruptcy twice between 2024 and 2025. But the recent spike in fuel costs due to the Iran war and uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz has dealt a major blow to Spirit, which ran on thin margins to begin with.
“We’re thinking about doing it, helping them out, meaning bailing them out, or buying it,” Trump said. “I think we’d just buy it.”
Trump told reporters that the federal government would buy out the airline “if we could get it for the right price.”
“They have some good aircraft, some good assets,” the president said. “And when the price of oil goes down, we’ll sell it for a profit.”
Trump added he would “love to be able to save those jobs” and “save an airline.”
In mid-March, Spirit Airlines announced a restructuring plan to rescue it from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the summer. The airline’s plan called for downsizing its fleet to fewer than 80 planes, focusing on its routes with the highest consumer demand, and reducing its debt and lease obligations from $7.4 billion to about $2 billion.
But the lenders to the airline’s credit line objected to the plan, saying it didn’t account for rising fuel costs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
SPIRIT AIRLINES FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN AS BANKRUPTCY PRESSURES MOUNT
The same outlet reported this week that the Trump administration’s Commerce and Transportation departments were nearing an agreement that included a loan of up to $500 million to keep the airline afloat. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the paper that the White House and Commerce Department were “tracking” the situation with Spirit.
“We have somebody that wants to run it, do a good job, smart person,” Trump said on Thursday. “And if they run it properly and if prices come down, all of a sudden it’s a valuable asset.”