After filing for Chapter 11 protection for the second time in August 2025, budget airline Spirit Airlines is continuing efforts to rework its floundering finances in a way that leaves most analysts with substantial doubt about its ability to stay in business at all.

The Florida low-cost airline is expected to post losses that top $804 million by the time 2025 is over as it continues to embark on a series of more and more extreme cost-cutting measures, such as slashing dozens of routes, furloughing or downgrading more than 500 pilots, and pulling out of markets like Minneapolis and Portland entirely.

As it struggles between the need to keep up operations to bring in funds and cut expenses, Spirit also backtracked on a plan to furlough an additional 365 pilots in the first quarter of 2026 earlier this year.

“The company has continued to be affected by adverse market conditions, including elevated domestic capacity and continued weak demand for domestic leisure travel in the second quarter of 2025, resulting in a challenging pricing environment,” Spirit leadership wrote in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing last month.

American Airlines files request for all information about Spirit Airlines bankruptcy

With many competitors carefully monitoring what comes next for Spirit Airlines, American Airlines has taken the proactive step of requesting all future information related to its bankruptcy.

The Dec. 5 filing asks the Southern District of New York for approval to receive Spirit’s operating reports, reorganization plans, and liquidation statements, among others. As reportedby aviation website View From The Wing, American is buying two of Spirit’s gate slots at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) after the latter significantly decreased its flight schedule from the airport.

Related: After bankruptcy, Spirit Airlines is running out of time, money

Without commenting further, American confirmed to Reuters that the filing is part of an “airport-specific agreement” related to Spirit.

Spirit has not provided a comment on the situation but in an October filing told the SEC that it was “actively working to explore all potential opportunities” and “engag[ing] in discussions with a number of interested counterparties.”

Ted Christie stepped down as CEO of Spirit Airlines in April 2025.

Image source: TheStreet

What is in store for Spirit in 2026? Airline hints at potential acquisitions and mergers

As the airline has strong brand recognition amid value-seeking customers, a merger or acquisition is a more likely outcome than a complete shutdown — Spirit has also previously also told investors that  “the value maximizing outcome may be a merger or sale of the company.”

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In the half-decade that passed since the covid-19 pandemic, low-cost airlines like Spirit have increasingly struggled with a changed market and inability to offer the former rock-bottom prices that made them competitive with the larger mainstream airlines.

In October, the same bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York approved a lifeline for Spirit Airlines in the form of a $475 million in debtor-in-possession financing and $150 million from airplane leading company AerCap.

This gave Spirit an immediate Hail Mary to continue operations until the end of 2025 but the poor course of its finances and interest of competing airlines shows that further announcements about its future could be in the cards beyond that.

Related: 90-year-old airport to close down forever amid low traveler numbers