Spirit Airlines may be gone, but its planes are still a familiar sight in metro Phoenix. Near Goodyear Airport, rows of jets in the airline’s trademark yellow livery remain parked on the tarmac.
Dozens of the defunct carrier’s planes are being maintained by the AerSale aircraft maintenance facility in Goodyear, according to Jackie Carlon, the company’s senior vice president of marketing and communications.
“I think it’s approximately 43 aircraft,” Carlon told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.
Why are there Spirit Airlines jets near Goodyear Airport?
She said the planes were leased by Spirit. However, the company’s financial troubles in late 2025 caused it to leave a group of jets stranded.
“Spirit Airlines — in an effort to manage their overhead costs and kind of get their expenses under control — went ahead and … declined the leases on a group of airplanes. And those are some of the airplanes that you see parked at our facility in Goodyear, Arizona,” Carlon explained.
Now that Spirit Airlines ended operations after 34 years, the jets are expected to be transferred to other airlines.
“What those leasing companies are doing for the most part is they’re working on finding new homes for those aircraft. And so those aircraft will likely get leased to other operators around the globe,” Carlon added.
Before they leave, the jets will be repainted and undergo maintenance.
“They’ll need new interiors, and then AerSale will be there to support them in that transition,” Carlon said. “They’ll basically go through some required maintenance before they’re returned to service.”
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Chris Havlik contributed to this report.
