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Spirit Data Sale to Google Passes Muster, Privacy Ombudsman Says

News.Bloomberglaw • October 6, 2026

Spirit Airlines and Google LLC have taken adequate steps to protect the privacy of consumers as part of a proposed $10 million bankruptcy sale of business enterprise data, a court-appointed ombudsman said.

Additional measures have been put in place to make sure the personal information of Spirit’s customers is removed or deidentified in the trove of data that the tech giant is seeking to purchase to train AI models, ombudsman Lucy L. Thomson said. A founding principal of Livingston PLLC, Thomson filed her latest report Monday with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

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Google's $10M Data Acquisition from Spirit Airlines Approved by Privacy Ombudsman A court-appointed privacy ombudsman recommended approval for Google's $10 million acquisition of Spirit Airlines' data, citing adequate measures to protect consumer privacy. The ombudsman, Lucy Thomson, noted that personal data would be de-identified or excluded from the sale, significantly reducing risks to the 97 million consumers who provided their data. The sale follows Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy in May 2026, with Google aiming to use the data for AI training. However, unions representing former Spirit employees have raised objections, claiming potential privacy violations and risks to aviation safety. The final decision rests with the court, with a hearing scheduled for October 14, 2026. 3 sources 28

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Google LLC Spirit Airlines