Posted on 05/03/2026 7:26:50 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie
THEY SHUT IT DOWN.
WE BUILD IT BACK.
Spirit didn't fail because people stopped flying. It failed because Wall Street loaded it with debt and extracted every dollar it could. The routes are real. The demand is real. The only thing missing is ownership that answers to the people — not to shareholders.
01
THE COLLAPSE
At 3:00 AM on May 2nd, 2026, Spirit Airlines ceased all operations. Flights cancelled. Gates closed. 44 million annual passengers left without their airline. The assets — planes, routes, slots, brand — are available right now. The window is open.
02
THE GREEN BAY MODEL
The Green Bay Packers are the only community-owned franchise in the NFL. 360,000 ordinary people own shares. No billionaire can move the team. No hedge fund can gut it for parts. Spirit 2.0 is that model — applied to aviation, for the first time in American history.
03
YOUR TICKET = YOUR SHARE
The minimum pledge is $45 — the average price of a one-way Spirit ticket. You've already paid to fly on this airline. Now you can help own it. Every dollar pledged is a vote against private equity and a vote for an airline that answers to its people.
The Bankruptcy Court will sell Spirit for thirty cents on the dollar all the planes and equipment will be picked up and another airline will be analyzing all of their routes. We will no longer have the Greyhound of the Skies, maybe Carnival cruise ships are next !
Thought you might like that.
Okay… rarely agree with you, but you nailed it on this post.
What's that supposed to mean?
I would say it’s too much government involvement.
I remember when commie care was being debated and I asked a few folks, “Well, if you think insurance companies are so terrible, why don’t you get together with like-minded folks and start your own insurance company and do it ‘right’? You’d corner the market, yes?”
Laughs or dumbfounded stares is all I got back.
So, unlike a lemonade stand, airlines (and insurance companies) require some expertise to operate successfully. If that’s all it was, it’d be complicated enough. Add to that the government regulation associated with operation, labor laws for the unions, and the financial regulatory environment (which applies since this post is in the context of public ownership), it becomes well nigh impossible.
Did “Wall Street” load Spirit with debt?
Spirit did indeed largely finance itself with debt. But, was this the decision of Wall Street?
It was partly the decision of Wall Street and partly the decision of management. Wall Street considered the risk of debt to be reasonable (given its interest rate). Management thought issuing additional debt was preferable to issuing additional equity. Those involved were not naive or overcome with greed, and it wasn’t a conspiracy. It was a business decision.
As things turned out, things didn’t turn out well, and the company didn’t gain enough passengers to break even. Industrywide, load (or, butts in seats) collapsed during COVID and the shutdown:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LOADFACTOR
Spirit, being a low-coast airlines, needed a higher than industry average load factor. As bad things happened, Spirit’s problems multiplied and the airline didn’t have the strength in equity to survive.
With Spirit sidelined, there opportunity for other discount carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but - in the real world - you don’t have to outrun the bear. You only have to outrun the competition.
Air lift all illegals and anti Americans to Africa?
Where were they based out of?
“insurance”
The denial problem stems from the way health and auto insurance is typically sold - with fixed dollar premiums.
It incentivizes the insurance company to fight for every dollar, which can head directly to its bottom line.
Insureds as a group should if practical bear all of the financial risk, so insurance companies don’t profit from jerking insureds and providers around.
Insurance should have an issue fee [~$100], a potentially refundable issue margin reserve charge [~$100], a monthly profit allocation [~$20], and an offer premium.
As the months go by, a $520/month health insurance offer premium would typically be adjusted by a higher-than-expected payout charge, or a lower-than-expected payout credit.
For January, you might pay $740.
For February, you might pay $540.
For March, you might pay $540.
For April, you might pay $532.
For May, you might pay $545.
....
For December, you might pay $557.
For healthcare insurance, when healthcare claims have almost all been settled, in say May of the following year, you might get a refund of the remaining issue margin reserve charge in the amount of perhaps $56.
For auto insurance, the refund of the remaining issue margin reserve charge might take years to arrive.
Going up to the Spirit in the Sky
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W2msh0jut2Y&list=RDW2msh0jut2Y&start_radio=1
Braniff was the best overall. Their CEO (Casey, then Putnam) and poor planning doomed them.
“It failed because Wall Street loaded it with debt and extracted every dollar it could. “
B.S. Wall Street did not load spirit with debt, the management of the airline borrowed and borrowed trying to make the capital and operations numbers work. They didn’t.
Mode of ownership by itself would not have saved Spirit Airlines and merely a new mode of ownership could not revive it today. It requires a management team that can navigate the shards of the airline industry in a profitable way for the routes and customers that were Spirit’s business. Successive management teams at Spirit failed to do that. Changing the mode of ownership will not magically do it either.
How To Become a Millionaire
First, be a billionaire. Then, buy an airline.
I do have a question: If I buy a piece of Spirit, can I fly the plane?? 🤣
Spirit was unable to compete at a survivable level.
Well the corporate hq was in Dania Beach, FL which is just Broward County; Ft. Lauderdale and all that.
Dania Beach is famous for...being really old and having crappy hotels, but cheap.
Kinda like Spirit Airlines!
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