Should Spirit Airlines HQ become a Florida high school?

ORLANDO, Fla. – Thousands are pitching in to buy Spirit Airlines after the Florida-based company collapsed this month.

Spirit became the first major U.S. airline in over 20 years to go out of business due to financial problems, but some are taking a pragmatic approach to the situation.

For example, content creator Hunter Peterson posted a TikTok video shortly after the collapse, positing a radical idea: having 20% of the adult population pitch in to buy the airline.

“This is a genius idea,” he claimed. “We nationalize Spirit Airlines; owned by the people. Airline’s gone. We make a new airline. Let’s buy an airline.”

But he didn’t just throw the idea out there. Petersen launched letsbuyspiritair.com to crowdfund the proposal, and according to the site, close to 160,000 people have already signed on — that’s over $132 million thus far.

However, the project is still a long ways off from seeing fruition, as that figure only represents around 7.5% of the full $1.75 billion target.

[RELATED: Orlando travelers struggle to book flights after Spirit shutdown]

Meanwhile, Florida governor candidate James Fishback — a figure who has stoked controversy with his own far-reaching ideas — is similarly pushing to revamp Spirit Airlines.

Instead of nationalizing the service, though, he called on the state of Florida to purchase the airline’s headquarters in Dania Beach.

“I’m calling on the state Legislature to make an appropriation to buy this $180,000-square-foot building to make it a public high school, serving both Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach students,” he said. “And name it after Spirit Airlines and their employees.”

Regardless, Spirit Airlines’ closure has sparked concerns for many travelers, who may be trying to book new flights or get refunds.

For more information on how to address these issues, click here.