\n<\/p>\n
Some conservatives are pushing back against a possible federal government deal to avoid Spirit Airlines\u2019 collapse, as the company struggles to emerge from bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is weighing a $500 million bailout that could result in the federal government taking a significant ownership stake in the budget airline, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Several Republican lawmakers blasted the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Spirit\u2019s creditors or other potential investors don\u2019t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either. Not the best use of taxpayer dollars,\u201d Sen. Tom Cotton<\/a> (R-AR) posted to X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a> (R-TX) described the proposal on social media as \u201can absolutely TERRIBLE idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake & the government doesn\u2019t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline (that the Biden admin killed),\u201d he continued, referencing the 2008 recession-era Troubled Asset Relief Program.<\/p>\n Outside groups on the Right also weighed in. Advancing American Freedom, an organization aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence, released a memo slamming a possible deal.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should taxpayers bail out one company that has been uniquely unprepared?\u201d the memo asked. \u201cAmerican families shouldn\u2019t be forced to bail out Spirit and the shareholders or pay the bill to see if the federal government can run an airline.\u201d<\/p>\n Labor groups, however, expressed support for the potential federal assistance. The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), argued that federal intervention could protect jobs and stabilize the airline.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal relief is not a handout,\u201d said Capt. Ryan P. Muller, chair of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). \u201cIt is a loan that will allow the airline to finish the work that is already well underway, and it is the right call for 14,000 workers, nearly 2,000 pilots, the families who depend on those paychecks, and the millions of passengers who rely on affordable air travel.\u201d<\/p>\n On the Left, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) blamed the war with Iran for the airline\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump\u2019s war with Iran caused the sky-high fuel prices that finally did Spirit Airlines in. What do the American people get out of this taxpayer bailout? Will the failed airline executives be held accountable?\u201d Warren posted<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n The White House has not confirmed whether a bailout is on the table, but pointed to a Biden-era lawsuit that led to the rejection of the Spirit-JetBlue merger.<\/p>\n \u201cSpirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline\u2019s merger with JetBlue,\u201d White House Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump told CNBC\u2019s \u201cSquawk Box<\/a>\u201d that he would prefer a private-sector solution, saying he would \u201clove somebody to buy Spirit, it\u2019s 14,000 jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Economist Peter St. Onge of The Heritage Foundation told The Daily Wire<\/a> that the merger likely led<\/span> to the airline\u2019s decline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing that drove them over the edge was blocking the JetBlue merger,\u201d St. Onge said. \u201cOn the day that it was denied, their stock fell 47%. And the big picture here is that the low-cost carriers can\u2019t pass anything on, right? They have razor-thin margins, like 2 or 3%. So they need scale in order to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n