With Spirit Airlines out of business there’s an attempt at a grass roots effort for “the people” to buy it. The project, “Spirit 2.0 — Owned by the People,” is seeking pledges from passengers, employees, and communities, to acquire the carrier’s assets – with one member, one vote (regardless of investment) but profit sharing based on pledge amount.
The new carrier would offer worker equity through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, capped executive pay, open books, and “affordable fares” in a Green Bay Packers-style community ownership model applied to aviation.
But website pledges are non-binding, they’re not actually collecting money, and there’s not even a plan for actually making money – the crux of the problem with the business in the first place. So the effort amounts to a pledge form and mailing list capture.
I take this as a viral organizing stunt and attempt to ride the sentiment as the airline goes gently into that good night. They claim 36,605 “founding patrons,” $22.8 million pledged, and a $1.75 billion target, but no actual money. And even if the money was real that’s only 1.3% of their target. At the claimed average pledge of $623, they would need about 2.8 million pledges, if all were fulfilled.
It appears to be the creation of voice actor Hunter Peterson:
get in losers, we're gonna try to buy an airline.https://t.co/9rOh6Y0N1g
— Hunter Peterson (@hitherehunter) May 2, 2026
let’s buy spirit airlines /s
tag the richest person u know pic.twitter.com/OW6Xs7t19G
— Hunter Peterson (@hitherehunter) May 2, 2026
The plan is co-op ownershhip and low fares, but nothing to fix the airline’s strategy that led to shutdown in the first place. Spirit itself had a plan, albeit an insufficient one. Where this this airline fly? With which aircraft? Will they lean into premium or return to their low cost routes? How will they manage high fuel costs and basic economy competition from major airlines? At billion dollar annual run rate for losses, they’d need a plan quickly!
I suppose it’s not a worse plan than Marco Rubio finding out he has to run Spirit Airlines, too – as pilot, baggage handler, flight attendant… and he’s even responsible for fighting the passengers.
Marco Rubio finding out he has to run Spirit Airlines now too. pic.twitter.com/xhytHhuEDH
— Charles Curran (@charliebcurran) May 2, 2026
I’d also note that the Green Bay Packers are a publicly owned nonprofit, and shareholders receive no dividends, which is almost the opposite of what is being proposed for profit-sharing here. And the United Airlines ESOP ended in bankruptcy. It’s generally considered a cautionary tale, not a roadmap. Ultimately Spirit Airlines creditors are not going to wait for this effort. But it’s a good effort for building a marketing list!
Show’s over, friends. NK lost $2b; $20m ain’t doin’ jack. So, this is performative nonsense; someone is probably just grifting and gets a cut of the monies pledged. *sigh*
If that doesn’t work out for the 36,605 geniuses I have some swamp land in Sudan I’d sell them.
Great video if you haven’t watched it.
@1990 I thought you would be pledging a large sum since you are for the people owning business. Or is that only when the business is profitable and you (the government) can seize it?
Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to buy an MMA cage so the fights could continue without the pesky announcements telling you how to buckle a seat belt?
We just need a second buyer….. How about Junior using his magic Trump coin with a Saudi backing. The Trumps like airplanes and they are almost gold colored at 5,000 feet.
Like the restaurant business the 3rd Greek will make it profitable.
The author of this article is missing the point: Are these just pledges? Yes. Is there a comprehensive business plan? No. Are “the people” going to buy Spirit? Probably not. But this started as a joke, and within 4 hours gained enough momentum to CRASH THE WEBSITE. People had to leave their real email addresses and phone numbers AND follow up with a verification code to make a pledge… and enough people did so to crash the site (over 15k unique “pledges” within 4 hours). THE MINIONS ARE RISING.
A few people will get rich off this and the chumps will lose their “pledge” or “investment.”
I am grateful for two things. One of them is that in the post pandemic era, more U.S. leisure travelers have signaled that they are willing to pay a little more for greater comfort. The second thing is that Sprit went under. Not only because the business model was awful, but because it shows that American consumers are rejecting the Ryanair style ULCC model that has ravaged regional aviation in Europe. Thank goodness we are not moving in that direction here.
@Mike Hunt – How true. Even Europe is ridding the country of their alien invasion which is ruining a beautiful area. (I know, blah blah blah religion hater, but the religion of pieces is not integrating with society).
Out of this chaos comes the stupidity that social media creates in this age.
@MichaelMainello
I couldn’t agree more. I can’t wait until we send you disease bags back across the Atlantic and rid America of alien invasion.
It raised 20 million dollars in ONE DAY. This article does all it can to frame this as a futile and stupid effort, meanwhile the organizer’s lawyer is out of country because he came up with this YESTERDAY. To dismiss this effort after it’s done this much (might I add, in ONE DAY) while barely even HINTING at reaching the peak of its logistic growth is absolutely inane to me.
Thank you Senator Warren!
https://files.zhedge.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1920,quality=75,format=auto/https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-02%20at%2007.57.49.jpg
@Yanine it has raised $0, not $20 million
@The Real American – So you are an illegal alien or pagan, child marrying follower?
@Yanine
This “plan” reminds me of the 1930’s Busby Berkeley musicals when a group of 20-somethings say, “Hey – let’s put on a show!” and after a day or two of sewing costumes and a couple of afternoons of rehearsal, they put on a stage production that looks like it cost $200,000 in 1935 dollars.
The show is a success, they make fat bank, and the lead actors get married.
But yeah – give them another day or two and these people will probably save Spirit Airlines.
@Mike Hunt — Since you pretend to care about economics, you must know that more options tend to be better for consumers. Airlines like Spirit helped keep airfare low for everyone as the legacy carriers had to compete. Sure, Frontier, Allegiant and others are still around. However, further consolidation will not benefit most, except those with already entrenched power (Big 3). So, I see this as a net loss for the industry and overall economy, as those passengers who would’ve flown Spirit will simply just stay home. Now, separately, and subjectively, you loath that segment because they are less fortunate (they didn’t ‘earn’ it, or whatever). I disagree with that framing, obviously. And, I think, ultimately, that level of spite will come back to hurt you, too.
@Michael Mainello — You and the others (like Mike) like to call your opponents silly-names on here. Your hate has apparently inspired @The Real American, who is probably toiling away in a troll farm overseas. Hope he can get outta there soon. Yikes.
@1990 – F off, still not biting. I said bye, Felicia. Bye again. Don’t love you, mean it.
@1990 – If someone breaks into your house, do you shake their hand and say “Hi friend, can I get you a cold beverage?”
Islam is the not the “religion of peace, but of pieces.” Their savior married a 9 year old and they believe in world domination, not freedom of worship.
At the minimum you are ignorant. islam is a battle plan, not a religion.