NEW YORK, September 11 — Spirit Airlines wants to sell your name, your contact details, your travel history and your loyalty program information to Google. The ultra-low-cost carrier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 18, 2024, has proposed the data sale as part of its restructuring, and the move has set off alarm among privacy advocates, consumer groups and some lawmakers who say bankruptcy court should not become a backdoor for a tech giant to acquire personal data.
The phrase circulating among critics captures the objection: “Bankruptcy cannot become the new land grab for AI.”
The Deal on the Table
Spirit’s bankruptcy case is being heard in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The proposed sale is part of a broader asset liquidation plan, and the airline has stated that the sale is necessary to maximize value for creditors. The data in question could include millions of passenger records accumulated over years of operation — names, contact details, travel histories and loyalty program information.
Google has not publicly commented on the specifics of the proposed acquisition. The company, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has been expanding its AI capabilities, and critics warn the data could be used to train artificial intelligence models or enhance advertising algorithms.
The sale must be approved by the bankruptcy court, and objections have been filed. A hearing is expected in the coming months.
The Legal Gray Area
Privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation may complicate the transfer, since both require consumer consent for data sales. But bankruptcy proceedings can sometimes override such protections, creating a legal gray area that this case may resolve. Consumer advocates argue that passengers never agreed to have their data sold to a tech company, and that the bankruptcy process should not strip them of their privacy rights.
The outcome could set a precedent for how customer data is treated in future corporate bankruptcies, especially as AI companies seek vast datasets. Spirit Airlines, known for its yellow planes and bare-bones service, has struggled financially due to rising costs, intense competition and the failed merger with JetBlue in 2024.
The airline’s bankruptcy filing listed assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. What to watch: whether the bankruptcy court approves the sale over the objections already on file, and whether the ruling establishes a template for data as a saleable asset in Chapter 11 — a question that will only grow as AI companies hunt for training data.
