JetBlue creditors hire bankruptcy advisers as debt value declines
· The Fresno BeeRising jet fuel prices, caused by the disruption of Middle East oil since the U.S.-Iran war began in February, has led to a significant increase in airfares for the holidays as airlines, such as JetBlue Airways, pass higher costs onto passengers.
I’m not looking forward to booking a cross-country flight to Florida in December, as year-end round-trip airfares are up about 23% compared to 2025, according to the Hopper Holiday Travel Index.
Those rising fuel costs, along with high amounts of debt obligations, have forced several airlines to file for bankruptcy protection this year, and in certain cases, close their businesses.
European airlines file bankruptcy
European airlines, including Spain’s Volotea, Swiss charter airline Air Mountain, Latvian carrier AirBaltic, and Romanian airlines AnimaWings and Dan Air sought bankruptcy protection in their home countries in 2026, TheStreet‘s Veronika Bondarenko reported.
In the U.S., after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in 2024 and 2025, Dania Beach, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines failed to complete a merger and could not find financing or an investor to keep its doors open. The airline ceased operations permanently in May 2026.
And now JetBlue Airways’ creditors are taking a closer look at the company’s debt obligations with help from financial restructuring professionals.
JetBlue creditors hire advisers
JetBlue Airways’ senior creditors have hired restructuring adviser PJT Partners. The creditors also signed up financial restructuring law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, which represented the ad hoc group of secured bondholders in the first Spirit Airlines Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
The senior creditors hired the financial adviser and law firm as JetBlue suffers from cash burn and elevated oil prices, people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal.
JetBlue’s CEO Joanna Geraghty told employees in April 2026 that the airline was not considering bankruptcy in 2026, according to Reuters, but the company has not commented on its creditors’ adviser hirings.
JetBlue’s $2 billion in senior notes due in 2031 declined to as low as 42 cents on the dollar on Oct. 22, 2026, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority after trading at 80 cents on the dollar earlier in October.
The airline listed over $8.47 billion in total debt as of June 30, 2026, which is about $20 million lower than the total as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to JetBlue’s second quarter 2026 financial results.
Jet fuel cost spikes 76%
JetBlue’s fuel cost has risen by 76.3% year-over-year, from $2.40 per gallon in the second quarter of 2025 to $4.23 per gallon in the second quarter of 2026, according to the quarterly report.
The airline’s quarterly revenue increased year-over-year by 14.5% to about $2.7 billion compared to about $2.35 billion in the same period of 2025, but JetBlue reported a $247 million loss in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $74 million in the same period of 2025.
Spirit Airlines filed bankruptcy twice
JetBlue competitor Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 protection for the first time on Nov. 18, 2024, after the proposed merger between the two airlines was terminated March 1, 2024. The merger had been blocked by a federal judge on Jan. 16, 2024, who asserted that the merger would reduce competition and raise ticket prices across the industry.
Spirit filed for bankruptcy a second time on Aug. 29, 2025, after emerging from bankruptcy in March 2025, and permanently shut down all operations May 2, 2026.
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This story was originally published October 24, 2026 at 6:50 PM.