Spirit Airlines expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the coming weeks after its plan of reorganization was confirmed by a US bankruptcy court. The airline will exit bankruptcy in a take-private deal that gives its major bondholders control of the company.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Spirit Airlines' restructuring plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a private company.

Spirit’s approval comes after the third merger attempt by Denver-based ULCC Frontier Airlines, part of a back-and-forth process between the two budget carriers that dates back to 2022 when Frontier made a run for Spirit but was usurped by JetBlue.

While the strong brand and loyal customer base make a full closure unlikely, the pool of investors who will be able to pull the struggling airline back on track is limited — and, now that Spirit has rejected a merger offer from Frontier ( FRON) for a second time, got even smaller.

Spirit Airlines has cleared its biggest financial hurdle so far, allowing the Broward-based company to continue flying. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Feb. 20 approved the carrier’s plan to continue operating as a business. That’s the most critical and often difficult part of a corporate restructuring.