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 actual joke in aviation is “How do you make a small fortune in aviation? Start with a big one!”
Have you ever flown on Spirit??? It failed because its a POS airline. Its horrible. Its the city bus of the skies. Constantly late. Constantly being cancelled. Nickel and diming customers for every little thing. Dirty. Cramped. What Warren did is wrong. But this idea that Spirit was a good, functioning airline that got screwed by Warren and Wall Street is not right. Spirit screwed itself.
And in the end JetBlue will get the assets for pennies on the dollar, and they won’t have to accommodate Spirit’s moron management.
I used to go to Dania Jai-Alai back when I was in High School.
Yeah. Used to be a big thing there although not so much anymore.
Guess they’ll have to content themselves with Canadians at old hotels that have guys singing Volare.
Seems a bit like Studebaker going out of business. Poor management & they ran out of money...even if they had a good product for the most part.

As for the luxury that aviation being a public good brings, here is the NK flag carrier’s in-flight hamburger.
I think that political diagram is whacked. Doesn’t even make sense.
The demand is real??? No, the desire for unprofitable fares is nothing but a gibsmedat welfare fare.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.