Spirit Airlines reached a deal to sell 20 of its Airbus planes and is recalling some of the flight attendants who were laid off late last year amid the budget carrier’s financial struggles.

The spirit is in the middle of crossing it second bankruptcy in less than two years, after previously filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2024 and completing its first restructuring in March 2025. It filed for bankruptcy a second time in August 2025, prompting the airline to move forward with service and permit cuts.

The company said the sale of the plane will improve its financial situation and that the fleet reduction is not expected to affect its flight schedule if the court approves the plane sales because most of the 20 planes are not in service.

“As part of our ongoing restructuring, we have reached an agreement to sell 20 aircraft that have been held for sale for some time. The majority of these aircraft are not currently in revenue service,” Spirit said in a statement.

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Spirit Airlines reached an agreement pending court approval to sell 20 of its Airbus planes. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“If approved by the court, this transaction will provide us with greater financial flexibility. The aircraft involved will be phased out of our fleet beginning in April 2026. We do not anticipate any changes to our short-term schedule or workforce as a result of this transaction,” Spirit added.

The company formally requested a federal bankruptcy court for approval to proceed with the sale on Wednesday. Proceeds from the transaction would be used to pay down debt related to the aircraft, while helping to reduce operating costs.

Reuters reported that the first bidder is CSDS Asset Management, an aviation asset manager that accepted buy all 20 planes for about $533.5 million. If approved, Spirit would seek competing bids starting at about $554 million, according to an agreement with CSDS, and the auction and sale would take place in April.

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JetBlue won a bid to acquire Spirit in 2022, but the deal was blocked by regulators over antitrust concerns. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Spirit Airlines moved Thursday to lay off 500 of the more than 1,300 flight attendants that were laid off in December because of its continued financial struggles.

“As we continue to make adjustments to meet the evolving needs of our business, we are issuing layoff notices to 500 flight attendants who were involuntarily terminated on December 1, 2025. Laid-off flight attendants will receive notice on February 12, 2026, and those who accept will return to the contract detailed in the collective agreement.”

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Frontier Airlines tried to buy Spirit in 2022 and 2025, but ran into regulatory hurdles in the first attempt and rejected a bid last year. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service)

The Flight Attendants Association-CWAthe union representing Spirit flight attendants, said in a statement posted on social media platform X that it will be removed in order of seniority from the system, with those involuntarily fired first.

“This is good news for 500 flight attendants and their families and critical for those of us on the line who have faced a grueling operation over the past two months. The company’s aim in recalling flight attendants is to alleviate some of the operational problems since the layoffs,” the union said.

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The union added that it will continue to press management on agenda issues, access to health care and other benefits, as well as a reliability policy and other issues.

Reuters contributed to this report.