Spirit Airlines to cut nearly 100 planes during Chapter 11 restructuring, exit 10+ airports, slash routes.

What happened (quick brief)

Spirit Airlines said it will shrink its fleet by almost half, seeking court approval to reject 87 aircraft leases (and separate arrangements covering 27 more), exit more than a dozen U.S. airports, and slash dozens of routes as part of Chapter 11. Management cites overcapacity, weak demand, and fare pressure. Financing of up to $475M supports operations during the process.

Winners — grouped by theme

Legacy network carriers (reduced ULCC fare pressure on overlapping routes)

Why: With Spirit pulling capacity, legacy airlines face less price undercutting on leisure trunk routes and can manage yields better in affected city pairs.

Names: $DAL (Delta Air Lines ...