Ryanair Group CEO downplays impact of Spirit grounding in secondhand aircraft market

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary commented (03-Jun-2026) on the impact of Spirit Airlines returning its fleet of 114 A320 Family aircraft to lessors, stating: "We don't believe the grounding of Spirit will bring many additional aircraft into the secondhand market". Mr O'Leary confirmed he contacted "two of the bigger lessors of Airbus aircraft to Spirit" adding: "Both of them have repossessed their aircraft - more than 40 units in total - but are not planning to lease out the airframes again. They've taken the engines off them and are releasing the engines into the engine spares market this summer, where the yields appear to be far higher than the lease rentals for aircraft". Mr O'Leary concluded: "Accordingly, we don't see this as a source of fleet renewal for Laudamotion... The engine availability is the critical one from this grounding and lessors appear to be more interested in leasing engines rather than leasing aircraft this summer". [more - Aviation Week]