Spirit Airlines reportedly negotiating rescue deal with Trump administration

The Trump administration is considering a rescue deal for Spirit Airlines, a company that filed for bankruptcy twice within the past two years, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

On Tuesday, President Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met to devise a plan to bring back Spirit Airlines from the brink of liquidation, according to the Journal.

Their talk resulted in a potential $500 million finance option for the airline company in exchange for warrants to purchase up to 90 percent of the new entity, people familiar with the deal told Bloomberg. 

Duffy was reportedly against the deal. 

“What we don’t want to do is ‌put good money after bad, and there’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, ‌and they haven’t found their way into profitability. And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own that?” Duffy told Reuters. 

“And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own that? What would someone buy? If no one else wants ⁠to buy them, why would we buy them?” he added.

The news comes days after Trump knocked a proposed merger with United and American Airlines and urged someone to buy Spirit instead.

“I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs. Maybe the federal government should help that one out. I told my people,” Trump told CNBC’s Squawk Box.

The budget airline known for its low rates and yellow planes attempted to merge with JetBlue in March 2024 in a $3.8 billion deal.

Some said conjoining the companies would increase costs for consumers and the merger was originally blocked by a federal judge in 2023 on antitrust grounds.

“Spirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline’s merger with JetBlue,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister station.

“The Trump administration continues to monitor the situation and overall health of the U.S. aviation industry that millions of Americans rely on every day for essential travel and their livelihoods,” Desai added.

In recent months, the Trump administration has taken up stakes in companies ranging from Intel to a rare earth metal producer and another rare earth mining company, the Journal reported.

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