Brazen plan to save Spirit takes off with $335 million in funding pledges: 'Let's buy an airline'

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:29, 10 May 2026 | Updated: 17:42, 10 May 2026 After Spirit Airlines abruptly shut down last week, a social media content creator has unintentionally sparked a campaign to save the budget airline with more than $335 million pledged toward the cause.  Hunter Pearson posted a video proposing he and his viewers band together to 'buy an airline' and save Spirit, but what began as a joke quickly became a possibility as thousands pledged toward the cause.  'I had a genius idea,' Pearson began in the video posted last week. 'Spirit Airlines just went bankrupt, right? I'm the guy that flew Spirit Airlines for 24 hours straight.' 'There's more than 250 million individuals over the age of 18 in the United States,' he continued.  'Now, if we took only 20 percent of them and paid basically the average fare of a Spirit Airlines flight - which is somewhere around $30 to $40 - we could buy Spirit Airlines. 'This is a genius idea. We nationalize Spirit Airlines; owned by the people. Airlines gone. We make a new airline. Let's buy an airline.' Spirit went under on May 2, as all operations were abruptly halted with planes still in the air.  The company announced that all passengers who had bought a flight directly with Spirit through credit or debit cards would be automatically refunded, Fox Business reported.  Hunter Pearson posted a video proposing he and his viewers band together to 'buy an airline' and save Spirit, which has since garnered over 370,000 pledges  The website, Spirit 2.0 , saw a whopping $337 million total pledged by 371,552 supporters. A pledge begins at a minimum $45 for one ticket Spirit went under on May 2, as all operations were abruptly halted with planes still in the air '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,' the airline's President and CEO Dave Davis said in a statement to the outlet.  'This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.' The announcement came after a long financial battle to stay afloat, and Spirit was forced to file for bankruptcy twice before grounding planes indefinitely.  Around two and a half hours after Pearson's first video, he posted a follow up video shocked by the interest on TikTok and announced the creation of a website dedicated to the cause. 'So I made a website, it's called letsbuyspirit.com. Register your intent, I won't take any money... I guess buy Spirit Airlines. Let's do this,' he said. 'A reminder, we're not taking money. This is non-binding pledges to show interest to everyone else that we're serious.' The website, Spirit 2.0, saw a whopping $337 million total pledged by 371,552 supporters. A pledge begins at a minimum $45 for one ticket.  'Spirit didn't fail because people stopped flying. It failed because Wall Street loaded it with debt and extracted every dollar it could,' the site states. 'The routes are real. The demand is real. The only thing missing is ownership that answers to the people - not the shareholders.' Spirit's closure came after a long financial battle to stay afloat, and Spirit was forced to file for bankruptcy twice before grounding planes indefinitely. The airline's President and CEO Dave Davis said: 'This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted' According to the Spirit 2.0 website, the pledges from the public are simply the first step - which has been marked completed as of Sunday morning. To follow, Pearson said he is working on creating legal structures The site notes the Green Bay Packers as a model for Spirit 2.0, the 'only community owned franchise in the NFL' consisting of 360,000 shares owned by the public. 'No billionaire can move the team. No hedge fund can gut it for parts. Spirit 2.0 is that model - applied to aviation, for the first time in American history,' the website continues.  'Every verified member gets one vote - whether you pledged $45 or $45,000. This is the Green Bay Packers model: democratic governance where no single member can dominate the direction of the airline. Decisions on major matters - routes, leadership, strategic direction - are made collectively by the membership.' According to the site, the pledges from the public are simply the first step - which has been marked completed as of Sunday morning. To follow, Pearson said he is working on creating legal structures.  Pearson also announced that Mutiny, a company focused on helping the public earn ownership in brands, had partnered with the movement.  'Mutiny is the platform where regular people move markets, build brands and own what they believe in,' the company website states.  'We're helping the Spirit 2.0 movement become a reality by supporting its mission to put ownership back in the hands of the people.'  The partnership was met with backlash online surrounding speculation on the CEO Jay Davis's political beliefs, as many commenters wrote that they wanted to withdraw their pledge.  Pearson announced that Mutiny, a company focused on helping the public earn ownership in brands, had partnered with the movement - the partnership was met with backlash over the political beliefs of Mutiny's CEO Jay Davis The site notes the Green Bay Packers as a model for Spirit 2.0, the 'only community owned franchise in the NFL' consisting of 360,000 shares owned by the public 'I'm out. This got way too corporate,' one said.  'Jay Davis? Hunter, this is not it. We are out,' another wrote.  'Nope, if Jay Davis is involved, I'm out,' a third said.  'This seems like it’s getting further away from “Us” and more into bigger companies again.'  'Man I had so much hope and did pledge a little but now I'm gonna back out. This is so disappointing.'   Pearson's campaign to save the budget airline comes as the controversial candidate for Florida governor, James Fishback, proposed turning the Spirit headquarters into a public vocational high school. Fishback told the Daily Mail that he envisioned a massive education space for 5,000 students named after the defunct air carrier called the Spirit Aviation and Aerospace High School.  'It has classroom space. It has training space. It has computers that help students model and do flight simulations. It has a cafeteria. It has a gym. It's 180,000sq ft and it's pretty darn centrally located,' he explained.  James Fishback, pictured speaking to Spirit employees outside the airline's headquarters, has pitched that it should be turned into a school The $250 million headquarters, located in Dania Beach, Florida, opened just two years before the airline ceased operations  The airline's headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida, is now set to collect dust. A spokesperson for Spirit said the building will be sold through the bankruptcy process.  Spirit is set to be sold under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and will be sold in bankruptcy court.  Construction on the campus was approved in 2019 and had a $250 million price tag. It was completed in 2024, just a year before Spirit filed for bankruptcy for a second time.  Fishback argued that an aviation school was the perfect solution. The headquarters houses eight full-motion flight simulations, cutting-edge training equipment, classrooms, a cafeteria and a gym.  The gubernatorial candidate added that he would name the school in honor of the employees who lost their jobs.  'I'm asking the state of Florida to do something with this building behind us to remember and to honor the Spirit employees who came from South Florida and make an indelible impact on this community,' Fishback said at a press conference on Monday as he addressed former Spirit workers in front of the headquarters.  'I'm calling on the state legislature to make an appropriation to buy this 180,000sq ft building to make it a public high school serving both Broward, Dade and Palm Beach.'  Fishback's idea went viral online, with many questioning the politician's reasoning and accusing him of 'virtue signaling.'  Fishback met with former Spirit employees discussing his idea for a school at the old headquarters Fishback said the building is equipped with eight full-motion flight simulations, cutting-edge training equipment, classrooms, a cafeteria and a gym 'This isn’t it … you keep losing me. Spirit was an awful company. You seem to be another virtue signaling politician,' one X comment read.  Fishback claimed he had received positive feedback since announcing the idea. He told the Daily Mail that a school board member in Collier County approached him at a meeting to praise the proposal.  'She loved the idea of creating a school that would teach people real practical skills, great technical training, not just for jobs that are gonna pay fifty or sixty grand, but a lot of these jobs that would come out of Spirit High School, entry-level would pay a hundred and fifty, a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars,' he added.  When asked how the school would be funded, Fishback said he envisioned a 'public-private partnership.'  'I would source most of the funding not from taxpayers, but I would go to these companies,' he explained.  'My view is 80 percent of the funding would come from the largest aerospace and aviation companies in Florida.  'I'd pick up the phone and call Elon. I'd pick up the phone and call Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin, all these big companies, and say, "Invest in this school because this school is gonna send you great, talented employees in just a matter of years."'  Barry Janay, a lawyer specializing in trust/estate planning, real estate, aviation and intellectual property, told the Daily Mail that Fishback's plan was legally feasible if a judge approves the purchase.  He said that the state has the power to purchase private property, adding, 'If they can get the the secured creditors to approve, then yeah, something like that absolutely could happen.'  Fishback said that even if he does not win the gubernatorial race, he would still advocate for the proposal.  He told the Daily Mail that he had the 'ability' to make it happen regardless of whether he's elected in November.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. 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