A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved Spirit Airlines’ SAVEQ.PK debt restructuring, clearing the budget airline to convert $795 million in debt to equity and emerge from bankruptcy as a private company.

Financially troubled Spirit Airlines says its reorganization plan has been approved by a federal bankruptcy court in New York, opening the way for its exit from Chapter 11 “in the coming

Spirit Airlines has gotten the all clear to take off out of bankruptcy. A bankruptcy judge in New York approved the Broward-based airline’s plan this week.

Spirit Airlines (SAVEQ) garnered retail attention on Thursday after a court approved its plan to exit bankruptcy by converting $795 million in debt to equity and emerge as a privately owned company. The company said it expects to emerge from restructuring in the coming weeks following the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the

Spirit Airlines exits bankruptcy with a debt reduction plan, transferring ownership to majority lenders while eliminating shareholder compensation.

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.