Irish Flight Operations Company Supports Repositioning of Spirit Airlines Fleet
Shannon, Ireland, July 2026. Six West Aviation, a flight operations company based in Ireland, is leading the recovery and repositioning of aircraft following the collapse of Spirit Airlines in the USA. This work is being carried out as the aircraft owners and lessors recover and remarket the aircraft they had on lease with Spirit
Spirit Airlines operated a fleet of circa 180 aircraft; the closure of the airline resulted in the most aircraft being returned since the failure of Pan Am in 1991. A number of Spirit’s aircraft were already parked in Arizona prior to the airline ceasing operations at the beginning of May; however, a significant number of aircraft needed to be recovered after the closure of operations.
These aircraft were scattered across the USA and Six West flew aircraft to Marana Pinal Airpark and Goodyear in Arizona.
Brian Price, Senior Project Manager at Six West Aviation said: “Operations of this scale demand precision at every stage. From the initial planning through to final delivery, the team executed with the care and control our clients expect from us.”
The movements required a large amount of planning and coordination by Six West. One distinct feature was that the aircraft were parked at airports that Six West does not usually operate to, for example, Newark and Las Vegas.
Áine Scully, CEO of Six West, added, “The Spirit Airlines closure was one of the most significant fleet recovery events in recent aviation history. We mobilised quickly, and I’m proud of how the team responded; this is exactly the kind of work Six West was built for.”
Six West always recognise that in an airline failure, large numbers of people lose their employment. Six West always try to re-employ pilots from airlines that have ceased operation and the closure of Spirit was no different.
