Panic builds over bankrupt Spirit’s looming data sale to Google

A dispute has erupted after Google emerged as the winning bidder for a large operational dataset being sold during Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy. Springshot, a startup that supplied Spirit’s operational platform for the past three years, says it received no advance notice that the airline was preparing to auction data that may contain proprietary code, models, or other intellectual property belonging to third-party vendors.

In a limited objection filed in the bankruptcy case, Springshot argued the sale documents use broad, undefined categories that could sweep its own data and IP into the assets being transferred. The company asked the court to pause the sale and order a forensic review to separate Spirit-owned records from vendor-owned materials, warning that without such safeguards the transaction could permit the unauthorized transfer of trade secrets.

Other vendors echoed those concerns. International Aero Engines LLC and IAE International Aero Engines AG told the court the dataset might also include their confidential commercial, technical and financial information, and they said confidentiality provisions in their contracts appear to have been overlooked during the push to approve the sale. Both vendors warned of irreparable harm if proprietary materials are transferred to Google and potentially resold to third parties.

Privacy and digital-rights experts say the situation is unusual. An Electronic Frontier Foundation litigation director told Ars that this is among the first public bankruptcy disputes about selling accumulated employee data and that courts have not commonly treated such datasets as saleable assets. Springshot’s founder also cautioned that bankruptcy processes are generally set up to handle clear physical assets, like airplanes, but may lack the notice and segregation practices needed for complex digital property.

Google declined to address the mounting objections beyond a prior statement saying it acquired part of an enterprise dataset to help improve its products and AI models and that it would not receive personal information from the files. Springshot additionally flagged a competitive risk: a week before the Spirit auction, Ryanair announced a five-year partnership with Google to share operational data for Google’s enterprise AI tools, and Springshot said ingesting its data could allow Google to build rival airline-operational products. The bankruptcy court has yet to resolve the objections or order the forensic review Springshot requested.