Spirit Airlines said Monday it will delay delivery of new Airbus planes and pilots to save money as it tries to overcome several hurdles, including a stalled merger, engine problems and a lackluster recovery from the pandemic.
The budget airline said in a statement that the new steps will save the company $340 million over the next two years.
Spirit has made several changes aimed at cutting costs and improving its financial position since a federal judge in January blocked its plan to merge with JetBlue Airways. The judge ruled that the proposed deal would harm consumers. Spirit and JetBlue abandoned an attempt to appeal that decision last month.
Spirit plans to delay most of the Airbus planes it expected to take delivery in 2025 and 2026 by about five years. He also said he expected to license about 260 pilots from September 1. Those changes will help Spirit, which has lost money for the past four years, return to profitability, said the company’s chief executive, Ted Christie.
“The deferral of these aircraft gives us the opportunity to retool our operations and focus on the core airline while we adapt to changes in the competitive environment,” Mr Christie said in a statement.
The airline also faced a problem affecting the engines that power the most popular plane in its Airbus-only fleet, the A320neo.
Last summer, Pratt & Whitney, which makes those engines, said it had discovered a manufacturing problem that would require them to be inspected far ahead of schedule, putting hundreds of planes out of service in the coming years. Its parent company, RTX, said an average of 350 planes would be grounded from 2024 to 2026, at a cost to the manufacturer of about $3 billion.
Last month, Spirit reached a settlement with Pratt & Whitney that would improve the airline’s liquidity by $150 million to $200 million.
The Spirit was struggling even before the engine issue came up. While most U.S. airlines have enjoyed a relatively strong recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, some budget carriers, including Spirit, have had a harder time due to intense competition and higher costs in the places they operate.
