Airbus Updates No.4551

 

Spirit Airlines to reject 87 aircraft leases

Spirit Aviation Holdings, parent entity of Spirit Airlines, has petitioned the US Bankruptcy Court for an authorisation to reject 87 aircraft leases, including nineteen A320-200s, sixty-five A320-200Ns, and three A321-200NXs. The batch amounts to more than a third of the LCC's current fleet.

These lease rejections are on top of the recent agreement Spirit secured with its biggest lessor, AerCap, which included authorisation to reject the lease agreements of 27 aircraft (nineteen A320-200Ns and eight A321-200NXs). In total, the carrier is proposing to trim its fleet by more than a half from the current 214 aircraft to 100.

All 87 aircraft listed for rejection in the new filing are to be surrendered on October 27, 2025 at Goodyear. The impacted lessors are:

• Air Lease Corporation: one A321-200NX;
• Airborne Capital: one A320-200;
• Aircastle: one A320-200 and four A320-200Ns;
• Aviation Capital Group: seven A320-200Ns, and two A321-200NX;
• Avolon: two A320-200s, and two A320-200N;
• DAE Capital: two A320-200s and one A320-200N;
• Fuyo General Lease: five A320-200Ns;
• GA Telesis: one A320-200;
• ICBC Financial Leasing: three A320-200Ns,
• Jackson Square Aviation: one A320-200 and eighteen A320-200Ns;
• Merx Aviation Finance: three A320-200s and one A320-200N
• ORIX Aviation: one A320-200s and two A320-200Ns;
• SMBC Aviation Capital: four A320-200s and twenty-one A320-200N;
• ST Engineering: two A320-200s;
• Stratos: one A320-200s; and
• Vmo Aircraft Leasing: one A320-200N.

Many of the aircraft to be rejected are already out of service, the airline said. ch-aviation data shows Spirit’s fleet currently comprises sixty-two A320-200s, ninety-one A320-200s, twenty-nine A321-200s, and thirty-two A321-200NXs. Of this total, only 149 are currently active.

“As a key component of the chapter 11 process, Spirit has identified cost savings to be achieved through a significant reduction in its fleet by eliminating aircraft and other related equipment that currently are not, or soon will not be, used to generate revenue in Spirit’s businesses. This reduction and rationalisation of Spirit’s fleet will create a surplus of aircraft and other related equipment,” the company said.

Fred Cromer, the company's chief financial officer, added that the carrier "is committed to redesigning its network to focus its flying on key markets to provide more destinations, frequencies and enhanced connectivity in certain of its focus cities, while simultaneously reducing its presence in certain other cities. To do so, Spirit must right-size its fleet to match capacity with profitable demand."

Spirit Airlines' previous Chapter 11 process, which began in late 2024 and ended in March 2025, did not include the renegotiation of aircraft lease terms. Instead, the LCC focused on other cost-saving measures, which ultimately proved not to be enough to put the low-cost carrier in a secure financial position.

In its initial Chapter 11 filing, early in the year, Spirit Airlines did not renegotiate the terms of its fleet, focusing on other cost-saving measures. This ultimately proved not to be enough to put the low-cost carrier in a secure financial position.

Airbus Updates No.4384

 

Spirit Airlines sells 23 aircraft to GA Telesis

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) has entered into a binding term sheet with GA Telesis to sell twenty-three A320 and A321 types, according to an October 24 Securities Exchange Commission filing. The lessor will pay around USD519 million for the aircraft, which will be handed over by the end of February 2025.

GA Telesis President Marc Cho said the acquisition adds a large number of A320ceo and A321ceo jets to GA's portfolio. "We are confident these aircraft will provide significant value to our customers as they continue their operations," he added. The aircraft are powered by International Aero Engines V2527-A5 and V2533-A5 Select-One engines and were manufactured between 2014 and 2019.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Spirit's board was considering filing for Chapter 11. More recently, the under-pressure low-cost carrier received some short-term financial breathing space when the US Bank National Association agreed to a two-month payment extension for its 2025 Notes.

Spirit estimates the net proceeds from the sale of the aircraft, combined with discharging the aircraft-related debt from its balance sheet, will boost its liquidity by USD225 million by the end of 2025. The airline says it remains on track to close the year with around USD1 billion in cash and cash equivalents on-hand.

According to ch-aviation fleets data, Spirit Airlines operates a fleet of 217 Airbus narrowbodies, including seven A319-100s, sixty-four A320-200s, ninety-one A320-200Ns, thirty A321-200s, and twenty-five A321-200NX. Of that number, thirty-eight A320-200s and all of the A321-200s were built between 2014 and 2019 and owned by the airline.

Spirit says the sale of the aircraft is subject to, among other things, the execution of definitive documentation, and satisfaction of other customary conditions.

Airbus Updates No.4341

US low-cost carriers defer Airbuses

Over the last few weeks, three major US low-cost carriers have announced that they are deferring deliveries of new Airbus A320neo-family aircraft. They are doing this to reduce capital expenditure in the coming years, the expectation of lower passenger demand, as well as issues with the new engines.

On 1 July 2024, Spirit Airlines was the first to announce that they have deferred all new Airbuses it had planned to take delivery of between July 2025 and December 2026 until 2030 and 2031. How many aircraft are exactly involved hasn't been communicated. The airline currently has open orders for 23 A320neos and 30 A321neos.

JetBlue announced on 30 July 2024 that it has agreed with Airbus to defer 44 A321neos to 2030 onwards. The airline will not take delivery of any new Airbus between 2026 and 2029. JetBlue has open orders with Airbus for 49 A321neos. The delivery of new A220-300s will continue, of which they still have 66 on order.

The last airline to announce a deferral is Frontier Airlines, which did so on 8 August 2024. In total, the airline is deferring 54 A320neos and A321neos which it planned to take delivery of between 2025 and 2028. Instead, they now plan to take them on from 2029 onwards. Next to the deferral, Frontier Airlines also said it has decided to swap orders for eighteen A321XLRs into regular A320neos. The low-cost carrier currently has open orders with Airbus for 49 A320neos and 147 A321neos.

Airbus Updates No.4135

 

US's Spirit Airlines grounds 25 A320 Family aircraft

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200N© Airbus

26.10.2023 - 13:32 UTC

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) pulled 25 planes from service late last week to perform inspections, which the low-cost carrier said was happening "out of an abundance of caution." The all-Airbus operator operates 207 narrowbody aircraft.

Spirit said the checks were "necessary" and would impact its flight schedules. “While this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, the impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete the inspections and work to return to normal operations,” the airline's statement reads.

ADS-b data reveals that the airline cancelled 11% of its flights on October 20, 9% on October 21, and 8% on October 22. By October 23, the start of the current working week, the cancellation rate fell to 1% and was less than that the following day. While scores of Spirit's aircraft are impacted by the recall of certain Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, FlightGlobal reports that these aircraft went out of service to facilitate inspection of airframe brackets for possible fatigue cracks. A 2018 airworthiness directive details the issue that affects first-generation A320 Family jets but not newer A320neo types.

Spirit operates sixty-two A320-200s and thirty A321-200s among its broader fleet, which also includes twenty-three A319-100s, eight-two A320-200Ns, and eight A321-200NX. It says it will deal with any problems before returning any aircraft to service. However, the airline did not say how long it would take to complete the inspections of the 25 planes. Spirit Airlines did not respond to a request from ch-aviation for further details.

Airbus Updates No.4083

 

 

Spirit drops A319neo order for more A321neos

While discussing the results of Q2-2023, the CEO of Spirit Airlines said the airline has switched its order for Airbus A319neos into the larger A321neo. In total, it had 31 A319neos on order. The swap also means that the A319neo will remain a rare aircraft with only a total of 61 ordered.

Next to swapping aircraft types, Spirit has also rescheduled the delivery of other Airbuses on order, mainly deferring aircraft that were planned for delivery in 2024. These are now spread out to 2025-2029, reducing the company's capital exposure.

Earlier this year, in May, Spirit Airlines took delivery of its first A321neo, which entered commercial service a month later.

Airbus Updates No.4021

 

Spirit welcomes 1st Airbus A321neo

Spirit Airlines has officially welcomed its first A321neo in the fleet in anticipation on its first commercial flight which is scheduled for 7 June 2023. The aircraft, A321-200NX N702NK (11328) was transferred to the airline already on 19 May 2023, and is now ready for service. It's first flight will take it as NK1 from Fort Lauderdale (FL) to Chicago-International (IL).

According to the airline's press-release, Spirit is expecting to take delivery of seven more A321neos this year, and 24 next year. In addition the airline will also continue to take delivery of new A320neos.

Spirit Airlines is operating an all Airbus-fleet, consisting further of 25 A319s, 64 A320s, 78 A320neos, and 30 A321-200s.

Photo by Spirit Airlines.

Airbus Updates No.3913

 

US's Spirit Airlines to retire A319s by the end of 2025

Spirit Airlines Airbus A319-100© Spirit Airlines

23.01.2023 - 22:56 UTC

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) has announced that it will retire all thirty-one of its A319-100s by the end of 2025, having signed an agreement to sell 29 owned aircraft to Gryphon Trading Company, a subsidiary of Gryphon Aviation Leasing.

The ultra-low-cost carrier said in a stock market filing that the sale to Gryphon would net between USD152 million and USD201 million, depending on price adjustments specified in the agreement but not disclosed publicly. Redeliveries to the lessor will begin in the first quarter of 2023 and will conclude in the third quarter of 2024. Spirit Airlines said it would retire fourteen A319s in 2023 and fifteen in 2024. The aircraft will be financed by Aviator Capital Management through Aviator Capital Fund V.

The final two aircraft, which are leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners, will be returned at the end of their leases in 2025.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that Spirit's fleet of A319s is 16.4 years old on average. The two leased aircraft are the youngest ones, at 12.5 years of age each. The vast majority of the aircraft have been operated by Spirit since new, except for three owned aircraft bought second-hand from Windjet and the two leased units, which were previously operated by Volaris.

Spirit Airlines has a firm order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for thirty-one A319-100Ns but has not disclosed their expected delivery timeline. The ULCC is one of just four confirmed customers for the type, and the only one outside of China. The ULCC's fleet also comprises sixty-four A320-200s, sixty-nine A320-200Ns (with fifty more on order), and thirty A321-200s. It has a firm order for forty-one A321-200Ns.

"We are excited to add these twenty-nine A319s to our fleet, which will help us meet the increasing demand for International Aero Engines V2500 overhauls and A320 family parts support," Chief Executive of Gryphon Steven Patch said.

Airbus Updates No.3609

 

Spirit to, again, lease more A320neos

Spirit Airlines has again decided to lease additional A320neos. This time the airline reached a deal with SMBC Aviation Capital to lease six more A320neos, which will be delivered between September 2022 and February 2023. The six are coming from SMBC's existing orderbook with Airbus. Next to this addition, the airline also sold and will lease-back fourteen A320neos it had on order directly with Airbus.

Earlier this month, the airline also announced it would lease twenty more A320neos from AerCap. In total, the airline now has open orders and lease-commitments for 35 A319neos (directly with Airbus), 89 A320neos (49 directly with Airbus, twenty with SMBC and twenty with AerCap) and 30 A321neos (twenty directly with Airbus, ten with ALC).

Airbus Updates No.3591

 

Spirit Airlines to lease 20 more A320neo Family jets

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200N© Airbus

08.10.2021 - 15:05 UTC

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale Int'l) has secured twenty new-build A320neo Family jets on lease from AerCap. A statement released by the lessor did not specify the exact types of aircraft contracted but did reveal their deliveries would run from 2022 and continue through 2023 into 2024.

"We are excited to further our longstanding, strategic partnership with AerCap. These 20 new aircraft help us achieve our previously announced capacity plans for 2022 and 2023, and our targeted growth in 2024, as we continue our mission of delivering More Go and providing the best value in the sky," Simon Gore, Vice President & Treasurer of Spirit Airlines, said in a statement.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Spirit also has thirty-five A319-100Ns, sixty-seven A320neo, and twenty A321-200Ns on order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac).

In terms of deliveries, in the Floridian budget airline's latest fleet plan released prior to the AerCap announcement, as of July 28, 2021, Spirit had three A320neo due in 1Q22, five in 2Q22, nine in 3Q22, and seven in 4Q22. However, the update did not factor in seven aircraft due in 2022 and 16 due in 2023 that were not yet under commitment as of the date of the plan.

Spirit's fleet currently numbers thirty-one A319-100s, sixty-four A320-200s, forty-two A320neo, and thirty A321-200s. Given a strong return in demand for travel, it said it expects to expect to reach full fleet utilisation by mid-2022.

Operationally, Spirit serves over 80 destinations across the United States as well as the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

Airbus Updates No.3551

 Spirit Airlines Inks Deal With ALC For 15 Airbus A320neo Family Jets

Spirit Airlines has signed leasing agreements to finance 15 of its upcoming Airbus A320neo family aircraft deliveries with Air Lease Corporation (ALC). Split between ten new Airbus A321neo and five Airbus A320neo aircraft, the secured financial acquisition method for these aircraft helps the airline get on track for its planned capacity increases through the end of 2021 and into 2022.

Spirit Airlines has inked a deal with Air Lease Corporation to fuel upcoming deliveries of A320neo family aircraft. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Spirit Airlines to take A320neo family jets from Air Lease Corporation

ALC announced on Wednesday the new agreements for long-term leases with Spirit Airlines. The airline will be taking ten new Airbus A321neo aircraft and has signed sale and leaseback agreements for five new Airbus A320neo aircraft. The five A320neos will be delivered to Spirit Airlines in 2021 and 2022. The jets will be owned by one of ALC’s managed aircraft ventures.

The ten Airbus A321neos will be delivered to Spirit starting in 2023 and running through 2024. These aircraft will be delivered to Spirit Airlines from ALC’s order book with Airbus. The agreement today is not for new order book increases but is accounted for within the carrier’s fleet plans.

Spirit plans for growth

By the end of 2021, Spirit Airlines expects to have taken 16 new Airbus A320neo aircraft. In 2022, per the airline’s latest fleet plan, it expects to take delivery of 24 new A320neos. The first A321neos are not expected to arrive at Spirit Airlines until 2023.

In the third quarter of 2021, Spirit Airlines expects its available seat miles to be up 4.2% compared to 2019. This marks the first quarter since the crisis started when the airline will be operating more capacity than it did in 2019.

The Airbus A320neo is a huge part of Spirit’s growth strategy. In large part, this is because of the increased efficiency this aircraft provides. Compared to its predecessors, the aircraft type offers strong performance enhancements. This includes improved fuel efficiency, greater range, and lower costs for the airline, which makes more routes economically viable.

The Airbus A320neo is a key part of Spirit’s growth strategy. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

From February through July, Spirit Airlines has been announcing new routes and new destinations. This includes expansion touching Louisville, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Tegucigalpa, Atlantic City, a planned huge expansion at Miami, and more. The carrier announced this growth just as travelers were getting back onboard aircraft at growing rates, summer travel was ramping up, and an improving health situation was working in favor of growth in air travel.

The backdrop of early August

In late July and early August, Spirit Airlines suffered a massive operational meltdown that lasted several days. On some days, the airline operated fewer than half of its scheduled flights as it worked through a myriad of issues and got the airline back up and running.

This, coupled with a worsening health situation, led Spirit Airlines to pull back some of its more ambitious growth. The carrier previously anticipated double-digit percentage increases in capacity in the quarter compared to 2019. It cut that growth expectation by more than half.

Spirit’s operations have significantly improved over the last few years. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Spirit Airlines has made significant strides in the last few years in its operations. This includes bringing up its on-time performance and improving general operational reliability. This came as the airline continued to steadily grow its domestic and international network.

The airline is certain to recover from the hit it took from its operational meltdown. It is far from the only airline to face a high-profile meltdown in its history, and it still has a lot of room for growth. In the future, the airline will need to learn from the lessons of early August and scale-up operations without getting ahead of its skis and facing another meltdown.

Airbus Updates No.3037

 Spirit Plans Capacity Increase With 16 A320neo Deliveries In 2021

Spirit Airlines had a rough 2020, and the airline is more than happy to let the year stay in the past. In 2021, the airline is far more optimistic with plans to ramp up capacity as it expects an increase in travel demand heading into the summer. The airline expects to be at 2019 levels of capacity by midyear 2021. Boosting that amount will be new Airbus A320neo deliveries, which will help Spirit fly 100% of its available capacity taking into account the new deliveries in 2022 and beyond.

Spirit Airlines will take 16 new A320neos this year. Photo: Getty Images

Spirit Airlines plans for 2021 capacity increase

Spirit Airlines has now detailed its capacity plans for 2021. In the airline’s fourth-quarter earnings call, executives called attention to the carrier’s strengths amid the ongoing crisis.

In the first quarter of 2021, the airline estimates capacity to be down 17% compared to the first quarter of 2019. January capacity is expected to be down 19%, February around 22%, and March down about 11% compared to the same months in 2019.

Despite this, the airline expects to be back at 2019 capacity levels by midyear, indicating strength heading into the summer. The airline, which relies mostly on leisure-oriented travelers, expects to be toward the front of the pack when returning to 2019 levels and turning a profit again.

New planes coming in this year

Spirit Airlines is still expecting to take new aircraft in 2021. In fact, the airline’s latest fleet plan indicates that the airline is expecting to take 16 new jets in 2021. All of these planes will be Airbus A320neos.

Spirit Airlines has a backlog of over 100 Airbus A320neos. Photo: Airbus

Spirit is targeted one delivery in the first quarter, six in the second quarter, five in the third quarter, and four in the fourth quarter. Keep in mind that aircraft deliveries are fluid, and the timeline on some of these deliveries may shift, either if Spirit decides to defer deliveries or if Airbus hits some issues with getting the planes out.

The Airbus A320neos seat 182 passengers and are the newest planes in the airline’s fleet, with an average fleet age under two years old. Spirit currently has 32 A320neo aircraft in its fleet.

The new planes coming in is part of the reason for Spirit’s hiring of new pilots and flight attendants. The airline is clearly betting on a recovery.

Spirit joins other carriers in preparing for a better summer

One carrier that is a little more confident than Spirit Airlines is Allegiant, which is even planning to increase its capacity this quarter by up to 5.5%. Spirit is a little different than Allegiant, as Spirit has international exposure, for which demand is coming back weaker than domestic flying. Not to mention, Spirit is willing to fly every day of the week, while Allegiant is avoiding Tuesdays entirely.

Nevertheless, getting to 2019 capacity levels in mid-2021 is pretty impressive and represents the airline’s positioning as a leisure-driven low-cost carrier that is taking advantage of the ongoing crisis. As Spirit is already primed for offering low fares at significant capacity, the carrier is getting ready for a summer of success.

Airbus Updates No.2413

Spirit Airlines firms order for 100+50 A320neo Family jets

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200N © Airbus

26.12.2019 - 05:33 UTC

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale Int'l) has firmed up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) covering a total of up to 150 A320neo Family jets.

The Florida-based ultra-low-cost-carrier said in a stock market filing that it had signed a finalised deal on December 20. The purchase includes 100 firm order jets - A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo jets - as well as 50 additional options. Deliveries of the firm ordered aircraft will run through 2027.

"We went through an extensive fleet evaluation process and determined that the fuel-efficient A320neo family of aircraft was the best option to support our continued growth as we expand our network,” Scott Haralson, Spirit Airlines’ Chief Financial Officer, said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Spirit currently operates thirty-one A319-100s, sixty-four A320ceo, twenty A320neo, and thirty A321ceo. In 2020 and 2021, Spirit anticipates taking delivery of forty-eight A320neo.

As of November 30, 2019, it had 38 additional A320neo jets on order from Airbus.

Airbus Updates No.2301

Spirit Airlines Announces Upcoming Order of 100 Airbus A320neo Family Aircraft

Spirit signs memorandum of understanding with Airbus to add a mix of Airbus A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo aircraft to continue Spirit’s growth and sustain one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleets in the U.S.

Company Release - 10/23/2019 4:10 PM ET

MIRAMAR, Fla., Oct. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE), America’s fastest-growing airline, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbus for the purchase of 100 new Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, together with the option to purchase up to 50 additional aircraft. The MOU includes a mix of Airbus A319, A320, and A321 models. These aircraft are planned for delivery through 2027.

“This new order represents another milestone for Spirit,” said Spirit Airlines’ President and CEO Ted Christie. “The additional aircraft will be used to support Spirit’s growth as we add new destinations and expand our network across the U.S, Latin America and the Caribbean. We look forward to working with our valued partners at Airbus to finalize our agreement.”

Spirit’s Fit Fleet® is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the U.S. with an average aircraft age of just 5.6 years. Spirit currently operates 138 Airbus A320-family aircraft and has seven Airbus A320neo aircraft scheduled for delivery from Mobile, Ala., by year-end 2019, bringing its fleet count to 145. In 2020 and 2021, Spirit anticipates taking delivery of 48 A320neo aircraft.

“The Airbus A320 Family has been a strong platform for the remarkable success of Spirit over the past several years,” said Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer. “The continuing confidence in the A320 expressed by the airline certainly lifts our spirits, and we look forward to being a part of the Spirit team’s continued growth for many, many years to come.”

In December 2019, Spirit plans to unveil an aircraft cabin redesign as part of its Invest in the Guest initiative. The cabin redesign will improve the look and feel of the interior while adding new, more comfortable seats that provide additional usable legroom. Spirit’s new seats will feature thicker padding, ergonomically-designed lumbar support, and a full-size tray table. Middle seats will also gain another inch of width, and every seat will gain nearly an inch of pre-recline compared to Spirit’s current seating configuration, with exit rows adding even more.

Visit the Spirit Careers page to learn about the hundreds of pilot, flight attendant and maintenance positions that America’s fastest growing airline will be hiring over the next few years.

Airbus Updates No.1950

Spirit to resume A320neo deliveries, mulls Airbus A220s  

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200neo © Airbus

27.09.2018 - 12:52 UTC

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale Int'l) will resume taking deliveries of A320neo aircraft this year as it plans to take two units by the end of 2018 and a further fourteen in 2019, CEO Robert Fornaro told Aviation Week at the APEX conference in Boston.

The American ultra-low-cost-carrier took its maiden A320neo in October 2016 but, after having taken five units in total, suspended further deliveries over performance issues with the Pratt & Whitney PW1127G engines.

"We opted to adjust our delivery stream and that starts to resume later this year going into next year. It’s been frustrating, but I have to say both Airbus and Pratt [have] been pretty good partners. We’ve kind of worked through the issues, but it’s safe to say we haven’t got the benefits that we would have liked to have seen," Fornaro said.

Initially, Spirit planned to resume deliveries of A320neo in mid-2019.

Spirit ordered fifty-five A320neo, including fifty directly from Airbus and five from AerCap. Deliveries will run through 2021.

The ULCC also operates thirty-one A319-100s, fifty-five A320-200s, and thirty A321-200s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. It also has a further seven current generation A320s on order with Airbus.

Spirit is also preparing to place a new order, expected in early 2019. While it could include more narrowbodies, Fornaro also said that Spirit would look into diversifying its fleet beyond A320 Family jets. In particular, the carrier would be interested in evaluating A220-300s and EMB-195 E2s.

"If we got a different fleet type, it wouldn’t be ten, it would have to be a substantial number - let’s say thirty-five to fifty - to get the right economics. I’m not uncomfortable doing it," Fornaro said.