DHS Secretary Kristi Noem tried to buy 737s from bankrupt Spirit Airlines which it neither owned nor had engines – Jalopnik

Fresh off spending $200 million in taxpayer money on private jets in the middle of a government shutdown, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was apparently also looking for ICE to buy ten Boeing 737s from bankrupt (again) Spirit Airlines. This was probably for two reasons: her own personal use (because the private jets were not enough) and also to allow for more deportation flights more quickly. Unfortunately for Noem, this plan had only a few minor problems: Spirit leases its planes and doesn’t actually own any to sell, and the planes in question had no engines anyway.

The Wall Street Journal broke the news, citing internal sources who are unhappy with the way Noem is using ICE’s massive new budget. Given that there are other (and cheaper) ways to increase deportation flights, such as leveling up current contracts, it seems like it was all more for show than to advance actual policy. Moreover, as the article notes, ICE is having trouble actually arresting enough people to achieve the Trump administration’s goals. Maybe there just aren’t that many hardened undocumented criminals, and many of them actually have important jobs? Anyway, considering they arrested Koreans at a Hyundai factory, it doesn’t seem like they have enough people to deport to fill ten 737s. It is therefore best that the plan is now shelved.

Spirit, in turn, is indeed trying to offload some of its air inventory. The ailing company wants to return 114 aircraft to its lessors, or more than half of its entire fleet. The intention is to emerge from bankruptcy as a much leaner operation. Times are tough for the aviation industry in general, and smaller outfits are feeling the brunt of the impact. It’s enough to drive an executive crazy. Maybe crazy enough to sell planes they don’t actually have.