What now? | TheaterFire

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Airframes are one lease and engines are another! And the lease company gets to hire pilots to fly them out to their storage site already mentioned. Time is ticking for those engines tho. Humidity is the killer for upholstered seats in the cabins

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RosieN336FR@reddit

I heard rumors that the public is doing like a fundraiser to restart the airline

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agha0013@reddit

For most of the fleet it'll be up to the leasing company(ies) that own them.

Many will likely go into temp storage while that's all figured out. Gonna be a lot of work for relocation crews to move them all

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WhiskeyTigerFoxtrot@reddit

Yep, they're awaiting pilots to fly them to designated storage, probably Victorville CA or Marana AZ. Basically plane orphanages where they'll sit for months to years awaiting an adoption from another carrier.

While this is going on the plane lease companies are scrambling to put together all the maintenance logs of these aircraft so they can be leased again.

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AdultContemporaneous@reddit

Is the idea behind those two locations the lack of humidity, or more than that?

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Ficsit-Incorporated@reddit

Lack of humidity and very cheap land that isn’t being used for anything else.

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Alternative-Yak-925@reddit

The cost of parking a commercial jet at a major airport is high. I learned that UPS was paying $19K per month per MD11 at my airport.

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ThatOldGuyWhoDrinks@reddit

Yep. It’s the same reason why they use Alice Springs in the Australian outback

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NosnarbAZ@reddit

Also, the ground is very very hard here. They can park planes on it without having to put down any kind of surface. That’s why the Air Force has their boneyard here. Look it up. It’s pretty impressive if you like planes.

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ammodramussavannarum@reddit

I wish we could still tour it.

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NosnarbAZ@reddit

Absolutely!

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RizzOreo@reddit

That's basically it. Similarly, when Dieselgate happened Volkswagen stored hundreds of thousands of recalled cars in the desert. Cheap, dry land.

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AgKnight14@reddit

That and the flat expansive desert

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Familiar_Fee_7891@reddit

Don’t forget Goodyear Airport. Big parking spot too.

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jason_sos@reddit

Shouldn’t the leasing companies already have all of the maintenance records for these planes?

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coloradokyle93@reddit

Not necessarily, the airlines are responsible for their own maintenance and getting records from Spirit is gonna be a little difficult since they don’t exist anymore.

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atlien0255@reddit

Plane orphanages 😭

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trevor_plantaginous@reddit

I can’t find it but I saw somewhere they were going to Mojave. There’s a ton of planes going into storage at the moment with the oil prices.

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Timely_Entrance_7931@reddit

Sounds like a good job for Bob and Steve at Nomadic.

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Proud_Environment506@reddit

Bob is licking his chops. He’s an apex predator. Love ❤️ the guy and Nomadic.

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samhouston84@reddit

Check out his new Aviation app - KittyHawk, with Orville AI. I find it very useful!

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84Cressida@reddit

Already a few flight plans filed

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airport-codes@reddit

IATA	ICAO	Name	Location
CLT	KCLT	Charlotte Douglas International Airport	Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

I am a bot.

^(If you are the OP and this comment is inaccurate or unwanted, reply below with "bad bot" and it will be deleted.)

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Volorikats@reddit

bad bot

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overglorifieduhaul@reddit

bad boy

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Timetraveler5313@reddit

I thought they were folding bcoz of Trumps war & the prices of gas going up. Ma. Was I wrong!

https://nypost.com/2026/05/03/us-news/dot-secretary-duffy-blames-biden-admin-pete-buttegieg-for-spirit-airlines-failure/

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duboilburner@reddit

This is what now. lmao

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trackday21@reddit

Ohh no whose gonna find a home for these poor creatures

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Naive-Estimate9942@reddit

JetBlue takes over assets

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offgrid-wfh955@reddit

Cockpit Casual to the rescue

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

I’ll probably get downvoted again for saying it but for anyone who cares. Bob from Nomadic Aviation/Cockpit Casual is a scab and he’s proud of it. He crossed the picket line at Eastern. Do what you will with that info but I for one have not interest in watching/listening to anything that supports someone like that.

Here he is saying he has no regrets about his decisions
https://x.com/captbob_nomadic/status/2048184031062397142?s=46

Here he is saying he was at eastern 89-91
https://x.com/captbob_nomadic/status/2003660038641156297?s=46

Here he is threatening someone who called him out as a scab
https://x.com/captbob_nomadic/status/2048432298400645246?s=46

And to top it all off here he is saying that “It was sad seeing the workforce sober up to the reality that they had sacrificed their careers and lifestyles for a cause that only benefited the other air carriers.” When the only reason that was the case was because scabs like him made it so.
https://x.com/captbob_nomadic/status/1682794416199843841?s=46

The dude is a total pos and it pisses me off every time I see people who don’t know better touting his company/podcast/whatever.

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Spiritual_Feed_4371@reddit

Scab or not, he's part of a team that brings me entertainment, and they will keep growing bigger and bigger. Just wish they would produce videos more often

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

It’s okay, I get it. Not everyone has morals

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Miserable-Bowl-684@reddit

Yeah some are more worried and concerned about feeding their family and paying their bills. How dare they?!

I understand the benefits of unions and they play very important roles for millions of workers.

What i dont understand is why people put a black mark next to a person's name when they make decisions that are best for them and their families.

My mind always goes back to the Comair strike ... those guys definitely deserved better pay and better benefits ... did they deserve so much money that it was the key catalyst for them having to sell to Delta for pennies on the dollar?

How many unions are crooked as h*ll? More than a few.

The word "scab" says more about you than it does for the guy that you are talking about.

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

Sounds like you don’t really know the history of aviation unions and how the eastern strike played out so I won’t blame you. The people who scabbed as eastern didn’t just help themselves, they ruined the careers of thousands of people. Costing many of those people their homes and families. That’s why scabs are treated the way they are in the aviation industry.

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Spiritual_Feed_4371@reddit

I'm not even in the aviation industry mate. I just have an interest in it so I will keep watching and sharing their videos with my friends so the team can get more followers and continue to produce more videos for me and thousands of others who enjoy their content.

If you have a problem with Bob, or anyone for that matter, just move on with your life and don't let it bother you <3 stress isn't good for your health

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

You don’t have to be in aviation to think it’s morally wrong to support someone who is part of a group responsible for thousands of people losing their jobs.

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Spiritual_Feed_4371@reddit

I understand your point, I totally understand why you feel so strongly about it because it's your industry. But like I said before I'm not apart of that industry so I wasn't involved in the job losses. I'm just someone who enjoys watching their videos because I like aviation content.

Watching a YouTube video as an outsider isn't the same as supporting layoffs or taking a side in an industrial dispute.

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somefukn@reddit

Giant piece of shit.

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GingerStrength@reddit

200 round trips to China or Europe for conversions. Solid 200 hours of videos coming up.

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Spiritual_Feed_4371@reddit

Their last video was 2 months ago. They need to speed up for real! Haven't had time to check out their podcast yet. Maybe that will give me my dose of Captain Bob enough until their next video

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adhdt5676@reddit

So ready for it lol

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TheManWhoClicks@reddit

Can I have them?

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MaleficentOutcome23@reddit

I can see alaska snagging some to replace the 717 for hawaiians inter island route + they can use them for west coast trips like southwest does.

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cyberentomology@reddit

Seems unlikely. That’s more likely gonna be E175s…

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Obvious-Champion1027@reddit

Or some 737 Max… those might be a bit on the large side for inter island. Ultimately Alaska is probably going to do out with those 321Neos once the Max 10’s start getting delivered. But I thinks there’s no way Alaska would buy more Airbus aircraft let alone used ones. Maybe some more A330s for Hawaiian but def not more a320s I think Hawaiians fleet could eventually become: 10-20+ E175 5-10 Max 8 20 Max 10 24(+?) A330-200

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shiftyjku@reddit

This photo makes it look like they’re being buried.

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Andro_lover2005@reddit

Yeah this is gonna get messy fast. With Spirit gone everyone’s basically gonna fight over the pieces.

Slots at places like Fort Lauderdale and LaGuardia are the real prize, those will get snapped up quick. Not easy airports to get into at all.

Then you’ve got all the aircraft, engines, parts etc, which is still a massive amount of value. It’s not just an airline disappearing, it’s a full reshuffle.

Wouldn’t be surprised if some airlines come out of this way stronger just from picking up the right bits.

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effortornot7787@reddit

when was FLL put on the slot control list?

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Andro_lover2005@reddit

I saw a SKIFT piece mentioning that but I’m not sure how accurate that bit is. From what I understand, FLL isnt actually a slot controlled airport like LaGuardia.

It’s definitely busy and capacity constrained though, so the demand being high makes sense.

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effortornot7787@reddit

when has SKIFT become the slot control authority in the US? FAA administers slots. JFK, DCA, and LGA are the only level 1 slot controlled airports. ORD, LAX, and SFO are level 2 airports. MCO and SEA are level 2 airports managed by the airport.

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TrumanD1974@reddit

I think with FLL, it’s that there’s a lot of demand from the cruise industry out of Port Everglades and now a significant reduction in supply of airline seats now. Don’t know the cruise industry super well, but I assume that they have a busy period coming up between the end of the school year and the start of hurricane season/repositioning to the Med.

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cyberentomology@reddit

WN has been pulling way back from FLL to MCO.

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madbarn@reddit

They’re free if u know how to start an airbus

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Familiar_Fee_7891@reddit

Airlines rarely own their entire fleet. I would suspect a goodly portion of Spirits fleet are leased aircraft and will return to the lessors.

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Suiblade@reddit

Nomadic steps in

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Icy_Huckleberry_8049@reddit

depends on who owns them and how Spirit is going to be liquidated.

If Spirit doesn't own them, then the owners can lease or sell them to anyone else that wants the planes.

If Spirit owns them, then when they're liquidated, they'll either be auctioned off or someone will offer to buy them.

It's NOT the first airline that's gone under, so it will play out just like all the other ones have.

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Deadpool2015@reddit

The vast majority of their fleet was leased. They’ll go back to their respective leasing companies.

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snyderjet@reddit

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Aaron_________@reddit

Sick livery though would have cool to see this during Halloween

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fishead36x@reddit

Damn you i laughed way to hard at this.

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TrekkieVanDad@reddit

Ditto!

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novar41@reddit

I was there this morning when these planes were still parked at the gate. I suppose the leasing companies were going to get them.

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G25777K@reddit

Little bit more complicated than that. If the airport is owed money, they may not release the aircraft until outstanding payments are paid.

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novar41@reddit

Lessors usually have crazy good credit and amazing insurance. Gentleman's agreement will generally do, considering that, because the airline no longer exists, the lessor's insurance will cover any unpaid debt/parking fees/ presumable damages to the airport. Worse comes to worse, the airport could sue their insurance but the amount owed probs wont be more than the aircraft is worth.

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TrekkieVanDad@reddit

Does Frontier have to lower their rates now that they’re the indisputably worst airline in the US?

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ArctycDev@reddit

If I understand correctly, they're already leased, so they will be repossessed and then either leased again to another airline, or sold. There's no shortage of demand so it's highly doubtful that perfectly airworthy 320s would be stripped.

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swakid8@reddit

You will be surprised… It wouldn’t surprise me if some of these become spare part donors.

It’s not cheap to reconfigure a aircraft interior. Seat manufacturers are also backed up on production….

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adhdt5676@reddit

Especially since most of these are birds with P&W engines.

And they are crazy high density configurations too.

I’d bet either Asia planes or scrapped. Some will get grabbed by mainline carriers too

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flynryan692@reddit

Most of the problematic A320neos were rejected back to the lessors in October/November-ish. We only had about 18 or less A320neo's leading up to yesterday. My understanding is that a good chunk of the A321neo fleet had pratts that were clear of the engine problem, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. We had a lot of A320ceo's and A321ceo's and the plan moving forward was to reduce down to 76 aircraft mainly consisting of A320ceo, A321ceo, and A321neo. The fleet plan I saw for June showed 1 A320neo left in the fleet by the end of that month.

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swakid8@reddit

Mainline carriers will grab them for parts if they want them….

But they aren’t going to buy them and reconfigure them. United estimated last year that it would have cost 15 million a frame to reconfigure a Spirit frame to Untied standards…. That’s a lot of money for used frames….

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adhdt5676@reddit

Holy shit… 15 mill a frame?

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swakid8@reddit

Yes… It’s not cheap.

A airline would need new interiors, put the airplane through a maintenance check, and it would have to undergo conformity checks as well so that I can be added to the opspec and enter revenue service.

Yeah, lessors will need to make concessions if they want to place these frames (NEOs).

The ceos are likely going to become part donors.

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LookoutBel0w@reddit

Most of them are CEO. The PW have been sold or are in the desert mostly

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actirasty1@reddit

no shortage of demand? Lufthansa cancelled 20,000 flights for this summer. Many airlines are close to bankruptcy due to the fuel price.

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ArctycDev@reddit

Yeah... and there are 8000 A320s on order. Just because they might not get sold tomorrow doesn't mean they won't get sold.

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junkyard_robot@reddit

I feel like there's a bit of shortage of demand with fuel prices at the moment.

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daves1243b@reddit

Off to the desert, at least until the war is over.

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cyberentomology@reddit

Maybe Bananaball is looking for a team airplane

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mundotaku@reddit

Well, there is a huge global demand for planes, so I would not be surprised if other airlines acquire these for cheap pretty soon.

Most of thei fleet are Airbus 320 200 and Neos.

I would not ve surprised if an airline buy a few of these to start flying to Venezuela.

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Ok_Excitement725@reddit

From what I’ve read, when they do eventually get back to work, they will only be going to budget airlines.

United took a look at them awhile back and apparently none have ovens and the electrical work to bring these up to a legacy/full service carriers requirements would be prohibitively expensive.

And more so, a lessor was (is) already suing Spirit because the condition of the jets they returned to them was very bad. Engines needing work, missing things that were originally included etc…I saw the court docket posted somewhere recently if anyone cares to look it up.

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U2ElectricBoogaloo@reddit

Guys, if you’ve ever wanted to own a plane, this is the best chance you’ll ever likely have.

Who wants to go in on one of these bad boys with me?

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EntrepreneurAny8835@reddit

I’m in. I can take one yoke.

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weldingTom@reddit

Returned and loaded leased to a new airline, and repainted.

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brilliantNumberOne@reddit

Spirit Halloween has the chance to do something legendary.

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Benis_xDxDxD@reddit

If it’s not Boeing, I’m not going

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HammerOfSledge@reddit

Cool split-tail.

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Tripletuxies@reddit

Was it spirit that had a massive problem when all their planes with Pratt engines had cracks in the turbine blades? Am I remembering that right

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SharpPhilosopher3734@reddit

Best I can do is tree fiffy.

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Adventurous_Ad_4669@reddit

Got will get them for nearly nothing and use them private sectors.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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discreetjoe2@reddit

They’ll sit for a while until the creditors split up the company assets. Then they’ll get sold to another airline and repainted.

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agha0013@reddit

Vast majority of the fleet isn't owned by spirit. They will be re-leased or parted out or a mix of the two, but with an unknown amount of time spent in storage

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Great_Specialist_267@reddit

74% are leased…

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ltshiroamada@reddit

The engines on the neos will be a hot commodity.

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mfknbeerdrinkr@reddit

I’m betting a good number either get scrapped or converted to freighters.

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27803@reddit

Doubt it, Spirit actually has a really young fleet, every airline that flys 320s will be looking to grab them, if B6 knows what good for them they’ll be grabbing planes and crews and take over the slots NK had

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mfknbeerdrinkr@reddit

You sure? I read they mainly retained older CEO’s. Which is what my comment was based on. I apologize if I am wrong.

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27803@reddit

They were dumping everything they owned and only kept the leased jets to free up cash

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planefan001@reddit

Is there a lot of demand for a narrow body freighter the size of an A320/A321? The 757 has had success as a freighter, but most freight companies tend to opt for widebodies even for short routes.

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langley10@reddit

There is an A321P2F conversion, but there are lots of cheaper A321s available, the 321neo is displacing a lot of the older model. Plus there is always a market for A32x planes, be it for service or parts, they probably won’t sit around too long.

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84Cressida@reddit

No. Narrowbody conversion market is in the toilet now. One of the STC holders for the 321P2F just pulled out.

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Kanyiko@reddit

The question isn't what now, but what next.

And with things going the way they're currently going, I'm very much afraid that 'what next' is JetBlue and Frontier parked side by side next to those Spirit Airbusses by the time fall comes around.

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junkyard_robot@reddit

A bunch of cheap A320s and A321s for other airlines to look at while they reduce flights due to fuel prices, and lack of travel due to recession.

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Kanyiko@reddit

A bunch of cheap A320 and A321 spares sources for other airlines to look at while they reduce flights due to fuel prices, and lack of travel due to recession.

Corrected that for ya. Between the fuel prices; the issues with the PW1100s on Spirit's 320/321 Neos; the age on the 320/321 'Classics'; and the impending collapse of travel due to the recession, I wager the chances of many of these planes at a second life as actual flying planes as... somewhat doubtful. Maybe some of the younger 320/321s will get a second lease of life, but the others would probably be worth more parted out.

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27803@reddit

The leasing company will send pilots to move them to be stored and then leased out to other companies , gonna take a few days at least for the liquidators to start getting things squared away

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actirasty1@reddit

all airlines dramatically reduced the number of flights for the rest of 2026. If Iran war will continue the shortage of fuel will will become a norm for several years till oil infrastructure in the middle east will be restored.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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Longjumping_Towel474@reddit

#skyking2

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This-Rutabaga-6391@reddit

I wonder if those things can do a barrel roll?

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MuttznuttzAG@reddit

Just once

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RogerRabbit1234@reddit

They are just going to get sold to the highest bidder for parts, and a few of the highest serial numbers will get a plant job and end up in India or China…. This is not hard they are very valuable assets. Oh whatever will be done with this 100million dollar aircraft… oh, I dunno, they are going to get about 97 million for it.

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