Spirit Airlines baggage tags are seen near a check-in counter at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on April 10, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | fake images
Spiritual airlines Shares rose on Friday after the low-cost airline said it would cut jobs and sell planes.
The stock closed the day up 16%, at $2.79 per share.
The airline on Thursday night unveiled a plan to cut costs and raise cash by selling 23 older Airbus planes. That sale will generate $519 million, Spirit said in a regulatory filing.
It also said it will reduce costs by about $80 million, mostly through job cuts.
Last week, the airline again delayed until the end of December the deadline to refinance more than $1 billion in debt, giving its credit card processor a break.
Spirit has struggled to return to profitability in the wake of the pandemic, facing a shift in travel demand and the grounding of dozens of Pratt and Whitney powered aircraft.
Even with Friday's jump, Spirit shares have fallen more than 80% this year after a judge blocked its planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways.
Spirit Airlines aircraft on the runway at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Joe Cavaretta | South Florida Solar Sentinel | fake images
Spirit did not immediately comment on how many employees it will cut, but said its 2025 capacity will be lower in the range of fifteen percentage points compared to this year. It began suspending about 200 pilots in September. Flight attendants “are well positioned” because many crew members took voluntary leaves, according to the company.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Spirit and Border Airlines have reignited merger discussions, sending stocks higher. The airlines had no immediate comment. The two low-cost airlines had a merger agreement that failed due to JetBlueApril 2022 offer to buy Spirit directly.
Late Thursday, Spirit forecast a negative 24.5% operating margin for the third quarter, better than a previous estimate of up to a negative 29% margin for the three-month period.
