Council authorizes signoff on Spirit’s $12M airport lease handoff to Delta

Atlanta City Council voted 15–0 on Oct. 19 to authorize the city's acknowledgment of Spirit's $12 million airport lease assignment to Delta—a deal covering preferential-use gates C4 and C6, ticketing-lobby and support space at Hartsfield-Jackson.⁠[1][2][3]

The vote advances the city action beyond the committee recommendation we reported Oct. 15. Resolution 26-R-4262 authorizes the mayor or a designee to execute Atlanta's acknowledgment documents. Those documents bind the city only after mayoral execution, clerk attestation, legal approval and delivery to both airlines; the reviewed records do not establish completion of those steps.⁠[1][4]

The $12 million is Delta's agreed payment to Spirit for the lease assignment—not a city purchase of two gates. The lease runs through June 30, 2031. The fee includes the costs of curing lease defaults, rather than adding those costs on top.⁠[2]

Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane approved the assignment July 10 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. His order requires Spirit to pay or arrange payment of $721,933.89 to cure defaults. It also requires Atlanta, as landlord, to give Delta immediate, full access to the leased premises once the order was entered and the city received that cure amount.⁠[2]

Spirit explained the handoff in its June bankruptcy motion: it 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, the airline argued.⁠[5]

The transaction's dates still require care. Atlanta's resolution describes the agreement as effective June 9, but the agreement calls that its execution date and defines effectiveness separately through conditions that include court approval. The actual effective date and payment of either the assignment fee or cure amount remain unverified; the Council vote does not establish them.⁠[2][4]