O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary discusses the shutdown of Spirit Airlines and the price New York City is paying for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies on ‘Varney & Co.’
One week after Spirit Airlines shut down operations, a new campaign to save the budget carrier has gained traction online, with more than $335 million in pledges.
TikTok creator Hunter Peterson posted a video last weekend proposing a plan to purchase Spirit through crowdfunding.
In the video, which has garnered more than 7 million views, Peterson suggested that if enough people contributed, the airline could be revived.
“This is a genius idea: We nationalize Spirit Airlines, owned by the people. Airlines gone. We make a new airline,” he said.
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Spirit Airlines jets sat on the tarmac as the company ceased operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 2, 2026. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Shortly after posting the video, Peterson launched letsbuyspiritair.com, which as of Saturday night had raised at least $337 million in nonbinding pledges.
The site allows users to pledge toward a proposed ownership stake in Spirit Airlines, though the contributions do not involve actual payments and instead reflect expressed interest.
Peterson later said in a follow-up video that the idea was gaining momentum.
“This started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way,” Peterson said.
Spirit Airlines shut down operations after more than 30 years, prompting online efforts to revive the carrier through crowdfunding. (Spirit Airlines / Fox News)
His proposal is largely modeled after the ownership structure of the Green Bay Packers, the NFL team that is publicly owned.
Spirit announced May 2 that it would cancel all flights and wind down operations “effective immediately.”
The airline said customers who booked directly with Spirit using a credit or debit card would be automatically refunded.
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A Spirit Airlines commercial airliner flies after taking off from Las Vegas International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., February 8, 2024. (Mike Blake / Reuters)
“All flights booked with credit and debit cards are in the process of being automatically refunded,” a spokesperson for Spirit told FOX Business. “The majority of guests who booked travel on a credit or debit card were refunded as of Saturday evening, with a small percentage continuing to process. Refunds may take time to appear in a guest’s account.”
Spirit said the shutdown followed failed restructuring efforts, citing rising fuel costs and an inability to secure additional funding.
“For more than 30 years, Spirit Airlines has played a pioneering role in making travel more accessible and bringing people together while driving affordability across the industry,” Spirit’s President and CEO Dave Davis said in a statement.
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A JetBlue airliner lands past a Spirit Airlines jet on taxi way at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport on Monday, April 25, 2022. (Joe Cavaretta/Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“… Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure,” Davis added. “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.”
Customers who purchased tickets through third-party vendors, including travel agencies, were advised to contact those providers for refunds.
Claims from passengers who booked flights using vouchers, travel credits or loyalty points will be handled through Spirit’s bankruptcy process, the airline said.
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FOX Business has reached out to Spirit for comment.
FOX Business’ Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
