Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is reportedly scrambling for ways to deal with its debt, the latest indication of the troubles the company faces if it unable to merge with JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU). Investors are scrambling for the exits, sending Spirit shares down 28% as of 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday.

Spirit Airlines is flying through some heavy turbulence right now. Just two years ago, the airline was the target of competing offers from JetBlue and Frontier Group Holdings that resulted in Spirit being valued at nearly $4 billion.

JetBlue won the bidding war, but the suitor's hopes of acquiring Spirit were dashed earlier this week when a federal judge sided with antitrust regulators seeking to block the merger as a threat to competition. The airlines could appeal the ruling, but with time running out on the agreement and the aviation landscape growing more treacherous in the quarters since the deal was announced, there appears to be little momentum left to get the merger done.

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Source Fool.com