economy
May 5, 2026
We'll take it: A TikToker rallies pledges to buy Spirit Airlines after its abrupt weekend collapse
Within hours he'd thrown up a website — a janky, one-hour job, by his own admission — and by Sunday, 36,000 "founding patrons" had pledged nearly $23 million, crashing his servers in the process.
TL;DR
- Spirit Airlines canceled all flights and let go of 17,000 employees.
- A TikTok user, Hunter Peterson, proposed a crowd-funded purchase of Spirit Airlines.
- His proposal, "Spirit 2.0: Owned by the People," gained 36,000 pledges totaling $23 million.
- The pledges are non-binding, and acquiring an airline costs billions.
- Peterson is aware of the challenges and humorously seeking expert assistance.