Atlanta panel backs signoff on Spirit’s $12 million lease handoff to Delta

Atlanta’s Transportation Committee voted 5–0 on Oct. 14 to recommend the city’s acknowledgment of Spirit’s airport lease assignment to Delta, according to draft minutes. Full City Council consideration is listed for Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.; the committee vote is not final city authorization.⁠[1]

Behind that signoff is a $12 million agreement covering preferential-use gates C4 and C6 at Hartsfield-Jackson, plus ticketing-lobby and support space, under a lease running through June 30, 2031. Delta agreed to pay Spirit for the lease assignment—not for Atlanta to buy two gates.⁠[2]

Federal approval came months before this City Hall review. Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane approved the assignment in a July 10 order and directed Spirit to pay or arrange payment of $721,933.89 to cure lease defaults. Those cure costs are included in the $12 million fee, not added on top.⁠[2]

The order also directs Atlanta, as landlord, to give Delta immediate, full access to the leased space once the order was entered and the city received the cure amount. The order establishes that requirement—not that the payment was made.⁠[2]

Spirit’s June bankruptcy motion explains why it sought the handoff: the airline said it no longer needed the space because it was winding down operations. Assigning the lease would bring money into its bankruptcy estate and stop the associated costs, Spirit argued.⁠[3]

Atlanta’s pending resolution, 26-R-4262, would authorize the mayor or a designee to execute documents acknowledging the assignment for the remaining lease term. Even after authorization, those documents would not bind Atlanta until mayoral execution, municipal clerk attestation, legal approval and delivery to both airlines.⁠[1]

The transaction’s dates still require care. The city proposal describes the agreement as effective June 9, but the agreement itself calls June 9 its execution date and defines effectiveness separately through specified conditions. The July 10 court approval is now verified; the records reviewed do not establish the actual effective date or payment of either the assignment fee or cure amount.⁠[1][2]