Spirit Airlines has emerged from its financial restructuring, which is says enables it to operate “as a stronger company, better positioned for long-term success.” As part of this planned bankruptcy filing, the carrier managed to wipe out approximately $795 million in debt.
As part of the restructuring, Spirit also received a $350 million equity investment from existing investors to support future initiatives, such as “investments to provide guests with enhanced travel experiences and greater value.”
The airline began its bankruptcy filing in mid-November and planned to emerge from the restructuring in Q1 of this year. Operations throughout the process were uninterrupted and employee wages and benefits were paid and honored.
Spirit will continue to be led by Ted Christie, president and CEO, and its existing executive team; however, a new board of directors with “significant industry and financial leadership experience”—including Robert A. Milton, David N. Siegel, Timothy Bernlohr, Eugene I. Davis, Andrea Fischer Newman and Radha Tilton—has been put into place.
In addition, Spirit’s old stock shares have been canceled and new shares now owned by Spirit’s backers will soon trade on a smaller market but with plans to get back on a major stock exchange in short order.
Thus seemingly ends a tumultuous couple years for the airline, which saw Spirit turn down not one but two offers from Frontier Airlines to merge, in addition to terminating a planned merger with JetBlue. The airline last summer overhauled its operations, scrapping its open-seating policy, adding new premium seat selections, and debuting new priority check-in and boarding experiences.
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