U.S. budget airline Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection...The operation continues.

Spirit Airlines, a low-cost U.S. airline that has been suffering from deteriorating financial structures, became the first major U.S. airline to file for bankruptcy protection since American Airlines in 2011.

Spirit Airlines has submitted a plan to improve its financial structure to the Southern Federal Bankruptcy Court in New York, which calls for securing new liquidity and converting debt investments to begin bankruptcy protection proceedings.

In addition, creditors signed an agreement to improve their financial structure by supplying new operating funds worth 490 billion won and converting debts worth 1.0 trillion won into investment.

Spirit Airlines said it expects to graduate from the rehabilitation process in the first quarter of next year if the improvement plan is implemented well, with flights, ticket sales and bookings all continuing normally during the rehabilitation process.

Spirit Airlines signed a 5.3 trillion won merger agreement with JetBlue in 2022, but sales have continued to decline since it was canceled earlier this year due to the suspension of authorities, pushing for an independent financial structure improvement.