Spirit Airlines is close to significantly shrinking its fleet after a US federal judge approved the company to reject leases on dozens of Airbus narrowbody jets, starting this month.
The Florida-based airline, which is now operating under bankruptcy court oversight, is working to divest aircraft in response to weakened demand for its discount airline seats.
Judge Sean Lane with US bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York on 21 October signed an order approving Spirit to reject leases covering 67 aircraft, court filings show.
The rejections are approved to be effective on 27 October, court papers say.
Spirit does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The vast majority of the jets are A320neos powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofans, with handful being first-generation A320s and A321s powered by International Aero Engines V2500 turbofans.
The jets are leased from firms including Air Lease, Airborne Capital, Aircastle, Aviation Capital Group, Avolon, ICBC Leasing, JSAI International and SMBC Aviation Capital.
Spirit on 6 October had asked the judge to reject the leases, though that filing identified 87 aircraft Spirit wished to return. It is not clear why the judge’s order covers only 67.
“Spirit has identified cost savings to be achieved through a significant reduction in its fleet by eliminating aircraft and other related equipment that currently are not, or soon will not be, used to generate revenue in Spirit’s businesses,” the airline’s 6 October request said.
Last month, Spirit reached an agreement with lessor AerCap to reject leases on a separate 27 Airbus jets.
The airline has said it aims to return at least 114 jets to lessors – more than half its current fleet. That fleet includes 149 in-service and 65 stored A320-family jets, according to fleet data provider Cirium.
On 17 October, Spirit also asked the court to approve a renegotiated lease agreement it reached with Carlyle Aviation Management. The deal, which covers first-generation A320s powered by V2500s, would extend the leases and see the lessor help pay for upcoming engine “performance restoration shop visits”, a court filing says.
Spirit, which is awaiting the judge’s decision, warns it might need to reject the leases if the judge rejects the Carlyle deal.
The airline leases five A320s from Carlyle, Cirium shows.
