Spirit Airlines' Crowdfunding Raised More Than $88 Million in Pledges in One Weekend

Hunter Peterson, a voice actor and Instagram content creator, started a campaign on social media when Spirit Airlines was shut down on May 2, 2026. In just one weekend of crowdfunding what is called Spirit 2.0, he raised more than $88 million and plans to earn more. The idea behind it is that, by raising enough money to buy the airline and put control in the hands of the people, Spirit can move forward as a trusted airline.

Hunter shared in an Instagram video that he has had a vested interest in planes since he was a kid. He even once flew on Spirit for 24 hours straight, so clearly, this is a labor of love. But, according to the website for Spirit 2.0, the original company "failed because Wall Street loaded it with debt and extracted every dollar it could." Now, per Hunter's plans, the control can be moved over to the people who care about the airline company.

For Hunter, it all started with a wild idea he posted on social media. In a TikTok video, he explains why it's so important to him to bring back Spirit Airlines, re-employ the thousands of people who lost their jobs when the airline shut down, and re-vamp the business model as a whole moving forward.

"There's more than 250 million individuals over the age of 18 in the United States," he says in the TikTok. "Now, if we took only 20 percent of them and paid basically the average fare of a Spirit Airlines flight, which is somewhere around 30 to 40 dollars, we could buy Spirit Airlines. This is a genius idea. We nationalize Spirit Airlines, owned by the people, airlines gone. We make a new airline. Let's buy an airline. I should make a Venmo for this."

The Venmo idea was a bust, but Hunter put up an entire website dedicated to bringing in donations from people who want to be part of the movement. But to be clever, the crowdfunding is not taking money, according to Hunter in an Instagram video. He says that "these are non-binding pledges." He wants to show that there is serious interest in buying Spirit and making Spirit 2.0.

Not long after Hunter started letsbuyspiritair.com, the site had to undergo maintenance because of the overwhelming amount of pledges from people who want to be part of the new Spirit, should this project work out. The minimum pledge amount is $45, which gets you a potential base share of the new company and a vote as a member, if everything moves forward in the way Hunter hopes it will.

The next pledge level is $250, which gets you one vote plus 5.6 times the base share. Per the website, where the pledge section is located, pledging does not necessarily guarantee a person any financial gain, however.

"The final cooperative structure must be reviewed and approved by qualified securities and aviation counsel before any binding commitments are made," it says. "Participation does not guarantee ownership, financial return, or membership in any final entity."