Spirit Airlines wants to keep its smallest planes

For the past couple of years, Spirit Airlines' fleet plans have been in limbo as the company tried to finalise a new pilot contract in order to get cost certainty. Fortunately, Spirit's pilots finally ratified a new contract in late February. Last week, Spirit made one major fleet decision. The company agreed to purchase 14 Airbus A319s that it currently leases from AerCap. This move is a big bet on the long-term profitability of operating older, smaller jets -- even with higher pilot costs. Under prior CE Ben Baldanza, Spirit Airlines developed a strong preference for the larger members of Airbus' A320 aircraft family, which have lower unit costs. It also preferred to operate a fleet of young aircraft that were easy to maintain. However, the company's philosophy has evolved since Bob Fornaro took the helm in early 2016. <br/>