By Elias Schisgall

Airline stocks got a boost following a report in The Wall Street Journal that Spirit Airlines is preparing to close up shop after failing to secure financing to keep it in business.

The gains were most pronounced for other low-cost carriers. Shares of Frontier Group Holdings were up 13% to $4.09, while JetBlue Airways stock also advanced 13% to $5.25.

Larger carriers also saw their shares gain. Delta Air Lines gained 3.6%, Southwest Airlines rose 4.7%, American Airlines added 3.8%, and United Airlines Holdings was up 4.5%.

Shares of Spirit plummeted 62% to 53 cents a share following the Journal's report.

Spirit had been hoping to finalize $500 million of financing from the government to continue operating, but failed to get support from government officials and some bondholders to clinch the deal, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company had been struggling to climb out of bankruptcy after the war in Iran triggered a surge in fuel prices, dramatically increasing the airline's costs, the Journal reported earlier this month.

Typically, the government provides industry-wide financing support for airlines in moments of crisis rather than giving a lifeline to a single carrier, Raymond James analysts wrote in a note last month. They said the current market environment for airlines, though challenging, doesn't warrant a government intervention.

"Such a move would be incrementally negative for the industry overall, although the impact would likely fall more heavily on airlines such as Frontier and JetBlue," they wrote. "More importantly, government support would not solve the structural issues facing the spill carrier model."

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2026 11:29 ET (15:29 GMT)

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