TikToker’s crowdfunding plan to buy and revive Spirit Airlines draws $88M in pledges from 124,700 people

A TikTok creator named Hunter Peterson launched a crowdfunding effort over the weekend to buy and revive Spirit Airlines hours after the carrier suspended operations on May 2, drawing more than $88M in non-binding pledges from over 124,700 people through letsbuyspiritair.com. Peterson, a content creator and voice actor, said in a TikTok video that “this started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way,” and is now seeking developers, public relations professionals, aviation lawyers, and airline executives to help advance the plan, with the average pledge at $667. Robert W. Mann Jr., former airline executive and president of R.W. Mann and Co., told USA Today the plan is unlikely to succeed because Spirit is already going through formal liquidation and its assets will be allocated by the bankruptcy court, adding that “I don't see it coming back.”