Startup Challenges Google’s $10M Purchase of Spirit Airlines Bankruptcy Data

Google won a bankruptcy auction for a large collection of Spirit Airlines operational data, but at least two vendors say a significant portion of that material belongs to them, not the airline.

As Ars Technica reported, a startup called Springshot filed a formal objection last month arguing that the sale improperly sweeps up intellectual property the company created while running Spirit's technology operations.

Google paid $10 million for the dataset, which includes internal communications, spreadsheets, and records Spirit accumulated during its operations.

The company said a third party will remove personally identifiable information before the data is transferred, and that it intends to use the material to improve its products and AI models. It declined to address the vendor objections specifically.

Springshot, founded by Doug Kreuzkamp in 2011, built a platform used by hundreds of airports globally to coordinate airline operations, connecting workers and logistics systems to keep flights on schedule.

The company powered Spirit's technology stack for three years, through the carrier's final flight.

Under a 2022 software agreement with Spirit, Springshot retained ownership of its software, services, and data generated by them. Kreuzkamp told the Miami Herald that his company's intellectual property is not for sale.

The concern, as aijourn.com outlined, is that the sale documents vaguely describe asset categories, including workflow and process data, productivity and collaboration data, and core business systems data, without specifying what belongs to Spirit and what belongs to vendors.

Springshot asked the bankruptcy court to pause the transaction until a forensic review confirms that no third-party property is included.

Kreuzkamp warned Ars Technica that allowing the sale to proceed without that review could set a precedent where startups lose large volumes of intellectual property to deep-pocketed companies through bankruptcy proceedings.

He added that possessing data is not the same as owning it.

A Second Vendor Joins the Objection

Springshot is not alone. International Aero Engines LLC and IAE International Aero Engines AG filed a separate objection citing similar concerns, alleging the dataset may contain their proprietary commercial, technical, and financial information.

Both firms pointed to confidentiality provisions in their Spirit contracts that appear to have been bypassed in the push to complete the sale. They argued the transfer could cause irreparable harm, both from Google's access and from any future resales to third parties.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA also filed an objection, though on different grounds.

That union argued that disciplinary records, training files, and leave requests can remain sensitive even after names are removed, and it asked the court to either exclude flight attendant data entirely or impose additional protections on it. AI training data disputes

Google's Ryanair Deal Sharpens the Stakes

Springshot noted in its court filing that Google announced a five-year data and AI partnership with Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, just one week before the Spirit auction closed.

Under that arrangement, Ryanair will share operational data to improve Google's Gemini enterprise tools.

Springshot argued that its own data may be among the most AI-relevant material in the Spirit package, and that Google could potentially use it to build a competing product.

Google's spokesperson did not respond to the specific concerns raised by any of the objecting parties.

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