JJ Skippy
Well-known member
We’ve looked at a number of different carriers in this series, so now let’s look at Spirit Airlines, an airline that’s eye-catching in our skies but has a turbulent future.
Spirit’s History
What has become Spirit Airlines began operations as a trucking company in 1964. Their first airline services were charter flights starting in 1983, using the Charter One name out of Detroit. The current name was adopted in 1992 and their first flights were to Atlantic City. Flights out of DTW and across the network quickly grew throughout the years.
Spirit started flying with the DC-9 and MD-80, and in 2004 they started to fly Airbus jets with a handful of A321s. These exited the fleet after a few years. The MD-80s were retired in 2010 with the DC-9s having been rid of a few years earlier. The A319 joined the fleet in 2005 and exited just this year, replaced by the A320neo. Those jets began flying in 2016 with the A321neo joining in 2023.
A Spirit A320neo parked at the gate at Nashville. This airframe was stored in October 2025.
As most of you may know, Spirit is currently in Chapter 11. Following a deal to merge with JetBlue that fell through due to regulatory concerns, Spirit filed for bankruptcy in November 2024. They emerged in March 2025, but have since refiled for Chapter 11 as of August 29, 2025. Some of their fleet has been mothballed (part of this is related to P&W engine issues on the A320neo, which have been ongoing long before the bankruptcy filings), along with flight attendants being furloughed and pilots being downgraded to save on operating costs. As of today, Spirit has 102 active planes with around 75 destinations, excluding those they’ve terminated flights to as a result of their restructuring plan.
The Models
As of November 2025, there have been 33 Spirit models produced in 400 scale.
We start the model journey in 2006, with Gemini Jets releasing a DC-9-30 (N969ML). A year and a half followed before they released a grayscale A319 (N506NK), then two years later a Skittles A319 (N502NK) exclusive for IDT Jets came out. It wasn’t until March 2015 we saw another Spirit release, with Velocity Models releasing an A319 (N534NK) in the then-new livery. Gemini Jets released the same tail number the next month. 2016 saw Aeroclassics released their first Spirit model, an A321 (N658NK) with sharklets. The first A320 with sharklets (N642NK) followed from Gemini Jets in May.
2017 was eventful for Spirit models, first another sharklets A320 (N620NK), then a Skittles example (N601NK) with fence tips. Aeroclassics made the first A320neo (N901NK) and a Skittles sharklet A320 (N638NK) as well. Some retro offerings followed in 2018 with a DC-9-30 (N130NK), and 2019 with an A321 (N588NK) and A319 (N525NK) grayscale. July 2020 saw NG’s first foray into the Spirit ring with an A321 sharklets (N681NK), then Gemini did their rendition (N672NK) the next month. This release had a Wi-Fi dome while NG’s did not, though both were correct at the time of their release. GJ did their first A320neo (N902NK) in December 2020, fortunately avoiding a duplicate tail number here.
The RM Model Store released an exclusive in 2022, an A320 (N612NK) on the Panda mould. Aeroclassics announced a similar release (N608NK) towards the end of the year. 2023 saw the introduction of the A321neo into Spirit’s fleet, and NG was the first to the market with N702NK. They also released one of the final A319s (N535NK) in their fleet, an A320neo (N901NK), and another A321 (N660NK). Gemini then made a cockpit mask A320neo (N971NK) in October 2023 with NG announcing a sharklet A320 (N648NK) and fencetip (N697NK) at the same time. GJ countered NG’s release of the same tail number with their own in December. 2024 saw JC Wings’ first foray into Spirit with the Super Nintendo World A320neo (N986NK). Aeroclassics and Phoenix also released their own renditions; the former also announced a standard NEO (N985NK). JC then did another Spirit special, the Untamed livery (N932NK) in November 2024 as the latest Spirit model.
That’s Spirit’s history in 400 scale! Wishing nothing but the best for Spirit and their employees. What models do you have? Which ones do you want to be made?
Spirit’s History
What has become Spirit Airlines began operations as a trucking company in 1964. Their first airline services were charter flights starting in 1983, using the Charter One name out of Detroit. The current name was adopted in 1992 and their first flights were to Atlantic City. Flights out of DTW and across the network quickly grew throughout the years.
Spirit started flying with the DC-9 and MD-80, and in 2004 they started to fly Airbus jets with a handful of A321s. These exited the fleet after a few years. The MD-80s were retired in 2010 with the DC-9s having been rid of a few years earlier. The A319 joined the fleet in 2005 and exited just this year, replaced by the A320neo. Those jets began flying in 2016 with the A321neo joining in 2023.
A Spirit A320neo parked at the gate at Nashville. This airframe was stored in October 2025.
As most of you may know, Spirit is currently in Chapter 11. Following a deal to merge with JetBlue that fell through due to regulatory concerns, Spirit filed for bankruptcy in November 2024. They emerged in March 2025, but have since refiled for Chapter 11 as of August 29, 2025. Some of their fleet has been mothballed (part of this is related to P&W engine issues on the A320neo, which have been ongoing long before the bankruptcy filings), along with flight attendants being furloughed and pilots being downgraded to save on operating costs. As of today, Spirit has 102 active planes with around 75 destinations, excluding those they’ve terminated flights to as a result of their restructuring plan.
The Models
As of November 2025, there have been 33 Spirit models produced in 400 scale.
We start the model journey in 2006, with Gemini Jets releasing a DC-9-30 (N969ML). A year and a half followed before they released a grayscale A319 (N506NK), then two years later a Skittles A319 (N502NK) exclusive for IDT Jets came out. It wasn’t until March 2015 we saw another Spirit release, with Velocity Models releasing an A319 (N534NK) in the then-new livery. Gemini Jets released the same tail number the next month. 2016 saw Aeroclassics released their first Spirit model, an A321 (N658NK) with sharklets. The first A320 with sharklets (N642NK) followed from Gemini Jets in May.
2017 was eventful for Spirit models, first another sharklets A320 (N620NK), then a Skittles example (N601NK) with fence tips. Aeroclassics made the first A320neo (N901NK) and a Skittles sharklet A320 (N638NK) as well. Some retro offerings followed in 2018 with a DC-9-30 (N130NK), and 2019 with an A321 (N588NK) and A319 (N525NK) grayscale. July 2020 saw NG’s first foray into the Spirit ring with an A321 sharklets (N681NK), then Gemini did their rendition (N672NK) the next month. This release had a Wi-Fi dome while NG’s did not, though both were correct at the time of their release. GJ did their first A320neo (N902NK) in December 2020, fortunately avoiding a duplicate tail number here.
The RM Model Store released an exclusive in 2022, an A320 (N612NK) on the Panda mould. Aeroclassics announced a similar release (N608NK) towards the end of the year. 2023 saw the introduction of the A321neo into Spirit’s fleet, and NG was the first to the market with N702NK. They also released one of the final A319s (N535NK) in their fleet, an A320neo (N901NK), and another A321 (N660NK). Gemini then made a cockpit mask A320neo (N971NK) in October 2023 with NG announcing a sharklet A320 (N648NK) and fencetip (N697NK) at the same time. GJ countered NG’s release of the same tail number with their own in December. 2024 saw JC Wings’ first foray into Spirit with the Super Nintendo World A320neo (N986NK). Aeroclassics and Phoenix also released their own renditions; the former also announced a standard NEO (N985NK). JC then did another Spirit special, the Untamed livery (N932NK) in November 2024 as the latest Spirit model.
That’s Spirit’s history in 400 scale! Wishing nothing but the best for Spirit and their employees. What models do you have? Which ones do you want to be made?
