TikToker proposes 'let’s buy Spirit Airlines.' Thousands want in

Updated May 4, 2026, 12:17 p.m. ETA TikTok campaign to buy and revive Spirit Airlines, hours after the company suspended operations, has raised more than $88 million.Over the weekend, Hunter Peterson, a content creator and voice actor, posted a TikTok video that now boasts more than 4.6 million views, proposing a plan to purchase Spirit Airlines through crowdfunding."This is a genius idea: We nationalize Spirit Airlines," Peterson said in the video. "Owned by the people. Airlines gone. We make a new airline."Spirit Airlines announced on May 2 it was ceasing operations, citing years of financial hardships made difficult by rising fuel prices. All Spirit flights are canceled and the airline's customer service is no longer available."Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure. This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted," Spirit President and CEO Dave Davis said in a statement.Thousands support crowdfunding plan to revive SpiritNot three hours after posting his first video, Peterson launched what is now letsbuyspiritair.com, which allows interested patrons to pledge a share into the proposed ownership of Spirit Airlines. A non-binding pledge does not entail a