Spirit employees must be protected in any bailout: Union

A union representing workers at Spirit Airlines said Friday that potential federal relief for the bankrupt carrier must protect its employees.

The International Association of ​Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing the airline’s ramp service employees, said in a statement “that means no furloughs, no layoffs, and no shifting the burden onto the very people who keep this airline running.”

President Trump floated the idea of a bailout Tuesday when reports surfaced about the administration considering a $500 million bailout for Spirit. A lawyer for the airline confirmed that it is in talks with the government about financing going forward.

The airline has been navigating financial turmoil since the COVID-19 pandemic and, in the past two years, has faced even deeper difficulties. The carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024 and then again in August 2025.

“IAM Union members at Spirit, and all frontline aviation workers, did not cause this crisis,” the union said. “They should not be the ones forced to pay the price. Any federal assistance must prioritize protecting jobs, preserving pay and benefits, and maintaining the affordable air service that millions of Americans rely on.”

The union cited the CARES Act’s Airline Payroll Support Program as a possible means for guaranteeing worker protection, stating it has seen the model work before. 

Conservatives have opposed the Trump administration’s potential plan to bail out the airline, stating their concerns about the precedent it sets for government involvement in business. Some in the GOP have also compared the potential bailout to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) enacted during the 2008 financial crisis to bail out the financial sector. TARP also faced fierce opposition from conservative critics.

“⁠There’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. “And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own ⁠that?”

“If no one else wants to ​buy them, why would we buy them?” Duffy asked. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the plan was “a terrible idea” in a post on social platform X, while Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) referred to it as “not the best use of taxpayer dollars.” 

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