Spirit Aviation seeking court approval to return 87 planes

[Aerial view photo Spirit Airbus A320 airplane at Orlando Airport in the United States]
Boarding1Now/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Spirit Aviation Holdings (OTC:FLYYQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ]), the parent company of Spirit Airlines, is asking a bankruptcy court permission to return 87 airplanes to its lessors as part of its efforts to trim costs while the carrier struggles to remain operational.

“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,” according the company’s filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. [https://dm.epiq11.com/case/spj/info]

According to Bloomberg, Spirit (OTC:FLYYQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ]) seeks to return 65 Airbus A320newos, 19 A320ceos, and 3 A321neos by October 27 to its lessors including JSAI International, SMBC Aviation Capital Limited, and Aviation Capital Group. This is in addition to the 27 planes Spirit seeks to return to AerCap Holdings (AER [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AER]).

The deal [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4500405-spirit-airlines-financing-facility-aercap-deal]with AerCap (AER [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AER]) enables Spirit (OTC:FLYYQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ]) to reduce operating costs by “hundreds of millions of dollars annually” and resolves all claims and disputes between the two companies. Spirit (OTC:FLYYQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ]) also agreed to take future delivery of 30 aircraft.

Spirit Aviation (OTC:FLYYQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ]) shares opened more than 5% lower on Monday.

MORE ON SPIRIT AVIATION HOLDINGS, INC.

* Spirit Aviation: New Equity, Same Broken Model [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4806253-spirit-aviation-new-equity-same-broken-model]
* Spirit's 'Fresh Start': Debt, Doubt, And A Dash Of Hope [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4800934-spirits-fresh-start-debt-doubt-and-a-dash-of-hope]
* Spirit Airlines secures up to $475M in funding, reaches deal with AerCap [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4500405-spirit-airlines-financing-facility-aercap-deal]
* Spirit Airlines cutting 40 routes, hires Amazon exec to help with network planning [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4499628-spirit-airlines-cutting-40-routes-hires-amazon-exec-to-help-with-network-planning]
* Historical earnings data for Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc. [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLYYQ/earnings]