Spirit Airlines struggled for years, battered by larger, cash-rich airlines that copied its business model, failed mergers, higher costs and, most recently, a surge in jet fuel prices because of the war in Iran. It then faced the most unforgiving foe: time.
“We just kind of ran out of runway,” CEO Dave Davis said in an interview with CNBC on Monday.
Spirit had hoped to exit bankruptcy, its second in less than a year, in mid-2026. Four days before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, a conflict that has sent fuel prices skyrocketing, Davis said he and his team were optimistic that the exit strategy could still work. But that was contingent on fuel prices moderating in April.
They didn’t.
“Late March, early April, it became clear that it was going to be tough for us to get through,” Davis said, noting that crude oil prices were above $100 a barrel.
