TikToker rallies pledges to buy Spirit Airlines after its sudden collapse
▼ Summary
– Spirit Airlines shut down overnight, canceling all flights, laying off 17,000 employees, and telling ticketholders not to come to the airport.
– Voice actor Hunter Peterson proposed a TikTok idea called “Spirit 2.0: Owned by the People,” asking adults to chip in the price of a fare to buy the airline.
– Within hours, 36,000 “founding patrons” pledged nearly $23 million on a quickly made website, crashing the servers.
– The pledges are non-binding, and the actual cost to acquire and relaunch an airline is billions of dollars.
– Peterson acknowledged his lack of expertise and humorously asked for help from aviation lawyers and PR people, committing to the “bit.”
When Spirit Airlines abruptly ceased operations overnight Saturday, grounding every flight, laying off 17,000 employees, and bluntly telling ticketholders not to bother showing up at the airport, the reaction was a mix of shock and genuine loss. Despite its many indignities, the airline had one saving grace: it was cheap. That sense of bereavement sparked an unexpected idea.
Hunter Peterson, a voice actor with a long list of frustrations as a frequent flyer, took to TikTok with a bold proposition. What if 20% of American adults each contributed the cost of a single Spirit fare and collectively purchased the airline? He dubbed the concept “Spirit 2.0: Owned by the People.” Within hours, Peterson had thrown together a website, which he freely admits was a “janky, one-hour job.” By Sunday, roughly 36,000 “founding patrons” had made non-binding pledges totaling nearly $23 million, overwhelming his servers in the process.
To be clear, none of this is actual money. The pledges are symbolic and carry no legal weight. Moreover, the real-world price tag for acquiring and relaunching an airline typically runs into the billions. Peterson is fully aware of the gap between aspiration and reality. In a follow-up video posted earlier today, he half-jokingly appealed for help, calling on aviation lawyers, PR specialists, and legal experts with a simple, direct request: “Help?”
“I know what I don’t know,” he told his followers, acknowledging the absurdity. But, he added, “you’re committing to this bit, so I’m committing to this bit.”
(Source: TechCrunch)
