People Have Pledged Over $85 Million To Buy Spirit Together After Man Jokingly Begins Movement To Save The Airline
Friends Stock / ShutterstockWhen Spirit Airlines suddenly announced it would cease all operations on May 2, 2026, it came as a shock to many. To the passengers who had upcoming flights booked and paid for, to the pilots and flight attendants who were now left without jobs, and to people across the nation who appreciated the airline's effort to make travel affordable.
However, Hunter Peterson, a voice actor and content creator, took this announcement to heart, leading him to post a TikTok video sharing his idea to recruit people to help purchase Spirit Airlines. What started as a joke has literally taken flight, and now there's an entire movement to save the company.
Peterson started a social media movement to save Spirit Airlines after it unexpectedly shut down.
"There are more than 250 million individuals over the age of 18 in the United States," Peterson states in the video. "Now, if we took only 20% 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."
It might sound a bit outlandish, but this type of business model has been extremely successful before. A community-owned, non-profit franchise, most notably seen with the Green Bay Packers football team, allows hundreds of thousands of fans to be shareholders. No single individual can own more than 200,000 shares of stock, ensuring the team remains publicly owned.
To make decisions about the team's operations, a board of directors consisting of 45 members elects seven members to make up the executive committee. The team has more incentive to invest locally, creating economic growth and one of the strongest fan bases in the NFL.
Craig Coenen, a history professor at Mercer County Community College and a Packers shareholder, explains to The American Prospect, "This team is highly successful financially, and it gives back everything they have to the community, which is what it should be. Nobody profits from this more than they should."
Peterson's idea follows a similar structure, and history proves that it has the potential to become a real thing. "We nationalize Spirit Airlines, owned by the people. The airline's gone, we make a new airline," he says.
Though it started as a joke, people have pledged over $85 million online so far and are fully supportive of the idea.
Peterson never expected the reaction he received to his initial video about buying Spirit Airlines, but because so many people were interested in his idea, he decided to take it a step further. In a follow-up video, Peterson says that he launched the website letsbuyspiritair.com, where people can pledge their intent and follow along with the movement.
The website clarifies that it's a non-binding pledge, which means no money is currently being collected, but over $88 million has been pledged by nearly 125,000 individuals. In fact, it received so much attention that the servers became overloaded, forcing the pledging to be temporarily paused for the time being.
Viewers are hopeful for the success of Peterson's idea because of the possibilities it could hold. "If we do this and it works out, we could do it with other businesses and make life affordable again," writes one commenter.
It's not just about an airline shutting down; it's about affordability slowly declining in an already devastating economy.
Travel content creator Marissa Meizz also posted a video reacting to the news of Spirit Airlines shutting down, and she highlighted the ramifications of losing a mode of travel that's affordable. "As a person who does travel content, and I'm extremely privileged to be able to just travel and go places, Spirit Airlines made that attainable for me in the beginning when I was paying for it all out of pocket."
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She continued, "If there's an option that's $500 or a budget airline option that is $100, that is somebody's way to get to a wedding. That is somebody's way to get to a funeral. That is a way for somebody to get to see their dad for the last time. That is an option for someone who needed it when they had no other option."
Meizz explains that these affordable options, especially in travel, are consistently being taken away, making things even harder for those who are already struggling. If Peterson's plan to get Spirit Airlines back up and running takes off, it could open a world of possibilities for travelers across the globe.
Kayla Asbach is a writer with a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
