Most of Spirit Airlines’ fleet is grounded, but a few of the carrier’s yellow jets have been flying empty this week to be moved into storage. One example was Nomadic Flight 189, which flew from Spirit’s former Fort Lauderdale hub to Phoenix Goodyear Airport carrying only a skeleton crew to ferry the aircraft.
When Spirit halted operations last weekend it left more than 90 aircraft scattered across dozens of airports. The carrier and its advisers are trying to convert assets into cash — everything from airframes and engines to spare parts, maintenance facilities, gates and landing slots — and asked a court for permission to conduct an orderly wind-down.
Reclaiming the airplanes is complicated by ownership. According to court filings, the majority of Spirit’s active fleet — more than 60 jets, nearly two-thirds — were leased from other companies. Those lessors understandably want their aircraft returned, and aviation services firms have begun moving in to retrieve them.
Steve Giordano, managing partner of Nomadic Aviation Group, which ferries planes for owners and lessors, says repossessions can take several paths. Some airframes will be re-leased quickly; others may have engines removed and installed on different aircraft; some will be cannibalized for parts; and some will simply sit and wait while buyers or decisions are found.
Spirit itself owns a smaller block of assets it can sell directly. Court records indicate about 28 Spirit-owned jets — all Airbus A320 family aircraft — along with an office building in South Florida, maintenance facilities and gates at key airports. Those gates and takeoff/landing slots at congested hubs are especially valuable: analysts note Spirit held gates at airports such as Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and slots at LaGuardia and Newark that buyers may covet.
Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst at the Atmosphere Research Group, says other carriers may be interested in Spirit’s gates and infrastructure. Ahmed Abdelghany, an operations management professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, points out that slots at constrained airports are saleable assets and will draw attention from rival airlines.
But getting aircraft out of where they sit is not straightforward. Many planes were parked at gates or remote stands when Spirit ceased flying, creating what Giordano describes as ‘an environment of mass confusion.’ Company representatives and contracted pilots sometimes encounter resistance from airport staff, who may call security or local law enforcement when outsiders approach an aircraft. Nomadic has been using qualified pilots, in some cases former Spirit pilots, to move jets — and those crews don’t always look like airline personnel, which can heighten friction.
Timing and market conditions add another layer of difficulty. Jet fuel prices have jumped roughly 70 percent since the conflict in Iran escalated in February, increasing operating costs and reducing the attractiveness of some older, less fuel-efficient aircraft. That same fuel-price pressure is squeezing many other carriers, so buyers who might otherwise pick up Spirit planes or routes may be more cautious.
The combination of logistical hurdles, legal issues with lessors and a tougher market means sales and redeployments could take longer than they would have in better conditions. In the short term, many of Spirit’s bright yellow aircraft are likely to be ferried to storage facilities — often in Arizona — and remain parked while owners, buyers and courts work out their next steps.