Google Wins Bankruptcy Auction for Spirit Airlines Data

Google won a bankruptcy auction to purchase a massive repository of internal business data and custom software from the defunct Spirit Airlines for $10 million. The acquisition, detailed in an August 14 court filing, follows the airline's collapse in May after severe financial strain from high debt and fuel costs.

The dataset includes approximately 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, 30 million lines of code, and 3.4 million payroll records dating back to 1986. It also encompasses finance and accounting records, pricing models, booking curves, and revenue management systems. Google outbid AI training startup Mercor, which submitted a rival bid of $7.5 million.

Google intends to use this operational data to improve its AI models and products. To protect privacy, the company stated that a third party will scrub the data of all personally identifiable information before the transfer. The sale specifically excludes customer profiles, credit card information, and loyalty program records.

The transaction awaits final approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York at a hearing scheduled for August 19, 2026. While the $10 million price is small relative to Alphabet Inc.'s overall spending, the move aligns with the parent company's aggressive pursuit of AI training materials and its increased 2026 capital expenditure guidance of up to $205 billion.