Spirit Airlines, as part of its campaign to shrink to profitability, has asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for permission to terminate the leases of 87 Airbus jetliners, a move that would cut the South Florida-based carrier’s fleet by about 40%.

The Dania Beach-based airline, which has been simultaneously shaving cities from its route network while furloughing hundreds of employees, was operating 214 planes when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time on Aug. 29.

In a motion filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, the carrier declared it intends to offload 87 planes by Oct. 27, a move that would reduce its fleet to 127 aircraft.

“Spirit is committed to redesigning its network to focus its flying on key markets to provide more destinations, frequencies

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