By Alison Sider

Spirit Airlines tapped a rival airline executive as its chief executive officer, part of the struggling budget carrier's effort to chart a new course after emerging from bankruptcy.

Dave Davis, most recently president and chief financial officer at Sun Country, will take the reins at Spirit starting Monday, the company said Thursday. Davis has held a number of senior roles in the airline industry, including finance chief for Northwest Airlines before it was acquired by Delta.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported Davis's appointment. Sun Country announced Davis's departure earlier Thursday.

Spirit filed for Chapter 11 in November to restructure looming debt after years of losses and a failed attempt to merge with JetBlue Airways. The budget airline parted ways with former CEO Ted Christie and Chief Commercial Officer Matt Klein earlier this month.

Spirit is bringing on other airline veterans to help with its revamp. Trey Urbahn, a former JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal executive who has served on the board of startup Breeze Airways, will advise Spirit on commercial strategy including network and pricing. Duncan Dee, a former chief operating officer at Air Canada, will oversee communications.

The management overhaul is the latest indication that Spirit is focused for now on regaining its financial footing as a stand-alone airline, after fending off takeover attempts from rival budget carrier Frontier Airlines.

Spirit still faces a number of challenges. The prospect of an economic downturn has budget conscious consumers thinking twice about travel.

Bigger carriers have indicated they plan to duke it out with discounters for bookings from price-sensitive fliers, and Spirit has moved away from the no-frills model it helped pioneer to better compete with larger rivals. Spirit has also been heavily affected by an engine defect that kept a chunk of its fleet grounded.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2025 09:59 ET (13:59 GMT)

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