By Maria Sole Campinoti, CNN

(CNN) — Spirit Airlines announced it will cut 200 jobs in an effort to reduce costs after filing for bankruptcy in November.

The airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to challenges with debt, competition from other low-cost carriers, and failed merger attempts with other airlines.

“We are executing on plans to rightsize our organization to align with our current fleet size and level of flying and ultimately optimize our airline,” a Spirit Airlines spokesperson told CNN. “After reviewing our organizational structure, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate approximately 200 positions from various departments across the airline,” he added.

The spokesperson added that the job cuts are meant to save costs and are separate from the Chapter 11 filing.

A case filed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is often referred to as a “reorganization” bankruptcy. It allows a company to continue operating while restructuring its debt.

In February 2022, Frontier and Spirit airlines announced a $6.6 billion merger, which would have resulted in the creation of America’s fifth-largest airline. The offer fell through a couple months later. The deal was not approved by a majority of Spirit shareholders because a more financially advantageous deal with JetBlue was on the table.

Spirit management supported the merger with Frontier, as it believed the one with JetBlue would not pass regulatory approval.

And in March, a federal court ruling blocked JetBlue’s attempt to purchase Spirit Airlines on antitrust grounds. The Justice Department had argued that airfares could go up if Spirit was no longer an independent airline.

The carrier expects toemerge from bankruptcyin the first quarter of 2025.

Spirit Airlines has nearly 13,000 employees and 8,000 independent contractors and temporary workers, according to a court filing. The most recent job cuts are all to non-union workers, the airline said.

Spirit Airlines reached a deal with Airbus in August to delay all aircraft deliveries scheduled from the second quarter of 2025 through 2026, and in September the carrier furloughed 260 pilots.

“While we will continue to identify additional operational efficiencies, these efforts, along with our recent Pilot furloughs, achieve our previously announced target of $80 million of annualized cost reductions,” the spokesperson said.

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