Can public buy an airline? Americans crowdfunding to buy Spirit after shutdown

Spirit Airlines recently announced its shut down due to financial crises and failure to secure a $500 million from the government; however, the American public is now crowdfunding to buy the airline and keep it flying.

The plan is to operate the carrier with a structure similar to that of National Football League (NFL) team Green Bay Packers, a team collectively owned by 530,000 members of the public.

A voice actor and social media personality Hunter Peterson shared the idea via a video on TikTok. He pitched, “If a fifth of Americans each give $45 (the equivalent of a cheap Spirit flight), we could buy spirit airlines.”

If we do the math, Peterson called for crowdfunding more than $3 billion.

• One-fifth of the U.S. population, estimated at 349 million, would equal approximately 69.8 million people.
• 69.8 million × $45 = $3.141 billion

Although he is not collecting the actual cash, the content creator said he has received pledges of $337 million from 337,000 verified people.

Peterson has decided not to talk to the media until he gets sure that his plans are firmer and would work. He is also consulting with the lawyers about the regulatory limits to his idea.

Experts cautioned that crowdfunding may work for smaller ventures, but an airline is an extremely complex financial enterprise involving multiple stakeholders.

A retired professor of finance at the University of Delaware, Charles Elson, said, “It is a nice idea. I would be shocked if it ever became a reality. I think it is like going to Mars.”