'Spirit 2.0' Explained: How Travellers Are Trying To Buy The Defunct Airline

Spirit Airlines, popular for its bright yellow planes, abruptly shut down after 34 years due to disruptions in the restructuring efforts amid a surge in fuel prices. The airlines cancelled all flights and laid off around 17,000 employees. Millions of travellers were left stranded when the airlines told the ticket holders not to come to the airport. But within hours, one of them had a wild idea: What if the public bought it?

According to the New York Post, a group of people on social media started a movement called "Let's Buy Spirit". The idea was shared by voice actor Hunter Peterson, who explained that there are more than 250 million individuals over age 18 in the US. If just 20% contributed $30-$40 each, which is about the average cost of a Spirit ticket, they could raise billions.

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They created a website, http://letsbuyspirit.com, which crashed more than once because of an overwhelming response. As per the outlet, an unverified total of $88,071,428 has been pledged so far, and over 124,750 people expressed their intent to be a founding patron.

He also created an Instagram account @spiritair2.0, which gained over 184,000 followers.

Notably, these are non-binding pledges. No money is actually being taken right now. The site currently has pledges disabled temporarily.

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"Before they lock it up - there is a narrow window for something that has never happened in commercial aviation. The passengers, the workers, and the communities Spirit served can take it back," the website read.

Peterson knows the actual cost of acquiring and relaunching an airline runs into the billions. In a follow-up video, he tried recruiting aviation lawyers, PR people and lawyers.

"I know what I don't know," he said. "I'm learning this in real time. This started as a joke, and it went out of control."

He also compared the movement with the Green Bay Packers, which is the only community-owned franchise in the National Football League (NFL). "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," the site read.