Fla.-based Spirit Airlines facing financial turbulence
Partners submitted a proposal to develop The Wellington North and South, two luxury communities in Wellington’s equestrian preserve. The project included creating a new showgrounds and would require the removal of 96 acres from the preserve, something the village had never allowed before.
The lawsuit says that in June 2023, less than two years after the sale, Kasper Kristian, the former CEO of Waterland, told Bellissimo that GEG would sell Wellington International as the company had defaulted on its loans with its primary lenders and was no longer able “to purchase or lease any land or make any material commitments to expand the business.”
As a result, WLP was “forced” to incur a substantial expense and investment for the new showgrounds to win approval for the project by the Wellington village council, the lawsuit says.
GEG had also leased U.S. Equestrian Federation licenses from Bellissimo for hunters and jumpers to compete in Equestrian Village, a facility Bellissimo owns along Pierson Road.
But according to the lawsuit, GEG stopped paying rent and owes $1.2 million. Bellisimo agreed to allow GEG to host the horse shows until June or October of this year.
Spirit Airlines Inc. has reported a net loss of $142.6 million for its latest quarter.
The deficit, equal to $1.30 per share, was up by 37% from year-earlier red ink of $104 million, or 95 cents per share.
Total operating revenues fell by 6.2% to $1.26 billion.
The financially struggling airline said its latest results were worsened by bad weather and delays related to air traffic control, “particularly along the Eastern Seaboard and in Florida.”
The Florida-based passenger carrier also cited continued civil unrest in Haiti, one of its flight destinations.
Spirit last month announced plans to close its crew flight base, made up of 157 pilots and flight attendants, at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey. That change, along with furloughs for about 260 pilots, is to take effect Sept. 1. Spirit flights will continue at the Atlantic County airport.
The airline was also recently ranked best in safety and affordability among U.S. carriers.
“The competitive environment remains challenging due to elevated capacity in many of the markets we serve,” Ted Christie, Spirit’s president and CEO, said in Monday’s earnings report.
The airline expressed confidence in an ongoing turnaround effort and costsaving measures.
Among other developments, Spirit obtained $99 million through sale-leaseback transactions involving five previously owned-and-operated aircraft.
The carrier had 207 aircraft when the quarter ended March 31.
Spirit also received a $69 million payment from JetBlue for that carrier’s termination of a merger agreement.
And the firm said it had agreed on compensation from Pratt & Whitney over aircraft engines that must be inspected and possibly replaced due to a manufacturing issue. It said credits to be issued by Pratt & Whitney will be between $150 million and $200 million.
The airline also said it expects to improve liquidity in 2024 by about $230 million through the deferral of aircraft on order from Airbus.
Spirit in February posted a net loss of almost $450 million for 2023, lower than the deficit it posted a year earlier of $554 million.