Soaring fuel prices are threatening air carriers around the world, and in the US the White House is scrambling to save the long-troubled Spirit Airlines.
The carrier is in bankruptcy court and is quickly running out of cash. Reports last week suggested that the Trump administration was in talks to loan as much as $500m to the company as it teetered on the brink of liquidation. Then on Thursday, Donald Trump told reporters the federal government might buy the ailing airline.
“We’re thinking about doing it, helping them out, meaning bailing them out, or buying it,” Trump said, adding that the government could “sell it for a profit” when oil prices come down.
The news highlights the strain Spirit Airlines has been under the last few…