A bold and unexpected social media campaign is shaking the aviation world after Spirit Airlines abruptly announced it was shutting down, triggering a viral push to “buy back” the budget carrier and turn it into what supporters are calling an airline “owned by the people.”

The collapse of the South Florida-based airline after nearly 35 years has left travelers stunned, with the company pointing to years of financial strain worsened by higher fuel costs tied to the war with Iran. But what followed the announcement was even more surprising: a TikTok-fueled movement claiming it could resurrect the airline through public crowdfunding.

“This is a genius idea. We nationalize Spirit Airlines, owned by the people. Airline's gone, we make a new airline. Let's buy an airline,”

That was the message from Hunter Peterson, a content creator with nearly 200,000 TikTok followers, who posted a video immediately after Spirit’s shutdown announcement. The clip exploded across social media, pulling in millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes within hours.

Peterson then escalated the idea from viral moment to organized campaign, launching letsbuyspiritair.com to measure public interest in purchasing the airline. Instead of collecting real money upfront, the platform allows users to submit non-binding pledges indicating how much they would theoretically contribute.

Within days, momentum surged. As of Monday, nearly 125,000 people had signed on in support, with pledges exceeding $88 million. The campaign’s stated goal is far larger, aiming for $1.75 billion in total pledges.

“This is insane, this started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way,”

The proposal has ignited debate across the airline and financial sectors. Industry experts warn that Spirit’s disappearance could lead to higher fares on routes it once dominated, as competitors face less pressure to keep prices low.

Peterson argues the airline did not fail because of its business model, but because of financial forces behind the scenes. On his website, he claims demand for low-cost flights remains strong and places blame on corporate structure and debt.

“Spirit didn't fail because people stopped flying. It failed because Wall Street loaded it with debt and extracted every dollar it could. The routes are real. The demand is real. The only thing missing is ownership that answers to the people — not to shareholders,”

Peterson is not new to the airline. In 2025, he spent 24 hours flying Spirit routes to better understand the budget carrier experience, documenting the experiment on his YouTube channel.

For now, the future of the viral campaign remains uncertain. It is still unclear how far the effort could go or whether any serious financial backing could emerge from the online movement.

Spirit Airlines’ communications adviser, FTI Consulting, which is assisting with the company’s wind-down process, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.