TikToker begins plans to buy Spirit Airlines with $88 million pledge
TikToker Hunter Peterson is sparking a viral campaign to buy Spirit Airlines through crowdfunding as millions of people pledge their support online.
A TikTok campaign to buy and revitalize Spirit Airlines, launched hours after Spirit Airlines grounded, has raised more than $88 million.
Last weekend, content creator and voice actor Hunter Peterson posted a TikTok video, which currently has more than 4.6 million views, in which he proposed a plan to buy Spirit Airlines through crowdfunding.
“This is a genius idea: nationalize Spirit Airlines,” Peterson said in the video. “The people are the owners. The airline is gone. We will create a new airline.”
Spirit Airlines announced on May 2 that it would suspend operations due to years of financial difficulties caused by soaring fuel prices. All Spirit Airlines flights will be canceled and the airline’s customer service will be unavailable.
“To continue operating, Spirit needed hundreds of millions of dollars in additional liquidity, which Spirit simply did not have and was unable to obtain. This is extremely disappointing and not the outcome any of us had hoped for,” Dave Davis, Spirit’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Thousands support crowdfunding plan to revive Spirit
Less than three hours after posting his first video, Peterson launched what is now letsbuyspiritair.com. This would allow interested patrons to pledge their shares to Spirit Airlines’ proposed ownership. A non-binding commitment does not require the collection of money, but rather an expression of interest.
And quite a few people seem excited.
As of May 4, about 124,700 people had expressed interest in the share buyback plan, with more than $88 million pledged, according to figures posted on letsbuyspiritair.com. What is the average promise? $667.
“This started as a joke, but it’s quickly spiraling out of control in the best way possible,” Peterson said in a TikTok video after the website posted it.
In addition to the website, Peterson also created an Instagram account, Spirit Airlines 2.0. As of May 4, the account had 163,000 followers.
USA TODAY reached out to Peterson and Spirit’s former attorney.
Crowdfunding site crashes
Although Peterson’s TikTok videos and website garnered a lot of attention, the latter crashed shortly after its creation. According to a notice on the website, as of May 4, pledges at letsbuyspiritair.com are currently suspended due to an upgrade to the website’s infrastructure.
Peterson asks for help across the board.
In a TikTok video posted on May 3, Peterson said he is seeking connections with a developer to upgrade the pledge website, a public relations expert to manage news coverage, an attorney with experience in the airline industry, and an airline executive who can provide the necessary details.
“I’m not talking to anyone on TV or anything,” Peterson said in another TikTok video posted on May 3. “If you want to hear from me, you’ll do it on social until you talk to a lawyer.”
Hunter Peterson and Spirit have a history.
The history of Peterson Airlines and Spirit Airlines goes back a long time (at least a year ago).
In 2025, content creators spent 24 hours straight on a Spirit Airlines plane to better understand low-cost carriers. In a YouTube video that has been viewed about 93,000 times, Peterson visited five of Spirit’s busiest airports, but only counted the time he was on the plane as part of the project.
Will the campaign be successful?
Experts say Mr. Peterson’s plan is highly unlikely to succeed.
Spirit Airlines is already in formal liquidation, and its assets will be used by a bankruptcy court to settle outstanding debts.
Robert W. Mann Jr., a former airline executive and current president of RW Mann & Company, an independent aviation consulting firm, told USA TODAY that Spirit would have been saved if it had future business prospects. Still, he said aircraft and other parts of the airline are likely to be created by new divisions at other airlines.
“Spirit will come back in a different form. The planes will come back with a different livery, some of the employees will come back with a different uniform, some slots will be operated by other airlines that absorb use or lose requirements, some of the ground equipment will come back with new equipment, and airports will have to install new signage,” he said. “But other than that, I don’t see it coming back.”
Contributor: Eve Chen, USA TODAY
Greta Cross is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Story ideas? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
