A week after Spirit Airlines shut down operations and cancelled all flights, an online movement is trying to bring the ultra-low-cost carrier back from collapse. What started as a joke proposal from a TikTok content creator has now spiralled into a viral crowdfunding campaign claiming more than $335 million in public pledges.
The campaign was launched by TikTok creator Hunter Peterson through Let’s Buy Spirit Air, where users have already pledged more than $337 million toward a hypothetical plan to buy and revive Spirit Airlines under a public ownership model inspired by the Green Bay Packers.
Peterson first floated the idea in a TikTok video that has now crossed millions of views online. In the clip, he pitched a crowdsourced effort to take over the bankrupt airline and relaunch it as a carrier “owned by the people”.
“This is a genius idea: We nationalize Spirit Airlines, owned by the people. Airlines gone. We make a new airline,” Peterson said in the viral post.
Soon after, Peterson launched the website allowing users to submit nonbinding financial pledges toward a possible ownership stake in the airline. By Saturday night, the campaign said it had crossed at least $337 million in pledged support, though no actual payments have yet been collected.
In a follow-up video, Peterson admitted the idea initially began more as internet humour than a serious business proposal. “This started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way,” he said.
The idea borrows heavily from the ownership model of the Green Bay Packers, one of the rare major US sports teams owned by its fans instead of a wealthy individual or large corporation.
WHY SPIRIT AIRLINES COLLAPSED
Spirit Airlines offically ceased operations on May 2 after weeks of financial turmoil and failed restructuring efforts. The airline abruptly cancelled all remaining flights and entered liquidation proceedings after failing to secure the cash needed to continue operating. The collapse marked the end of a carrier that spent more than three decades reshaping budget travel in the United States by aggressively pushing low fares across the airline industry.
“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 President and CEO Dave Davis said in a statement announcing the shutdown.
Spirit Airlines blamed rising fuel costs and worsening financial pressures for the shutdown.
The airline said passengers who booked directly through Spirit using credit or debit cards would automatically receive refunds.
“All flights booked with credit and debit cards are in the process of being automatically refunded,” a company spokesperson said. According to airline, most refunds had already been processed by Saturday evening, though some transactions could still take time to appear in customer accounts.
While the campaign on TikTok has generated massive attention, there is still no indication that the crowdfunding effort has any formal role in Spirit’s liquidation proceedings or access to the company’s assets.
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