Updated October 2026
For Chapter 11 debtors and CROs: adding the data archive to the sale
Your company is in Chapter 11, the sale process is built around operating assets, and nobody has priced the years of email, Teams or Slack history. A 363 sale in Chapter 11 can carry that archive as a separate lot, and Spirit Airlines has shown what that looks like in practice. The US Courts guide notes the debtor usually remains in possession and keeps operating, so it is management and the CRO who decide whether the archive goes on the list.1,2
Who is watching
The debtor runs the sale; the court and the US Trustee look over it
Under Chapter 11, as the US Courts guide describes it, the debtor in possession generally carries on the business. A sale outside the ordinary course needs the court's permission, and a liquidating plan is permissible.1,3
The US Trustee monitors the case's progress and supervises its administration. In Spirit, that office appointed the consumer privacy ombudsman, Lucy L. Thomson, on 2026-07-17, and the court approved the appointment on 2026-07-23.4,5
| Fact | Value and source |
|---|---|
| What Chapter 11 is | Chapter 11 generally provides for reorganization; the debtor usually remains "in possession" and may keep operating its business |
| Selling assets in Chapter 11 | A sale outside the ordinary course of business needs the court's permission, and a liquidating plan is permissible in Chapter 11 |
| US Trustee in Chapter 11 | The US Trustee monitors the progress of a Chapter 11 case and supervises its administration |
Scoping the lot
Decide which datasets are in before a bidder decides for you
On 2026-09-09 Google agreed to take five datasets out of the Spirit deal: passenger name and transaction records, refunds, inflight purchases, timecards and WiFi sales. Its price did not change from $10.0M. The passenger and payroll-linked material carried the most personal information and no extra value for this buyer, so a debtor that had left it out from the start would have had less to defend.6
For a CRO, the takeaway is an inventory exercise. List each system, what it holds and whose information is in it, then decide what goes in the lot. Buyers value the internal record (decisions, threads, documents); the customer and employee tables are where the objections start. Buyers we work with build this step in: Mode agrees the systems and date ranges before anything is exported, and Grepped lets you leave any system, folder or record type out.6,7,8,9
Who pushed back
Unions, a software provider and an engine maker all filed
Between 2026-08-18 and 2026-09-04, six objections or joinders came in: AFA-CWA, Springshot, PAFCA, International Aero Engines, IAM with TWU Local 570, and ALPA. The flight attendants asked for their information to be excluded or its use limited. International Aero Engines said its confidential information is not estate property. ALPA said safety-program data could identify pilots.7
Springshot, a software provider, pointed to its SaaS agreement, which gives it ownership of data generated by its service, while saying it was not trying to stop the sale. A debtor should expect similar letters from any provider whose platform produced part of the archive.10
| Fact | Value and source |
|---|---|
| Objections to the Spirit data sale | Six objections or joinders filed 2026-08-18 to 2026-09-04: AFA-CWA, Springshot, PAFCA, International Aero Engines, IAM and TWU Local 570, and ALPA |
| A vendor's ownership claim | Springshot, a Spirit software vendor, objected (Dkt. 1508) citing its SaaS agreement, which gives it ownership of "any data or information generated by the Service or Software"; it said it does not seek to stop the sale |
Conditions
Privacy terms arrived after the auction
The ombudsman's first report, filed on 2026-09-08, grouped her conditions into five categories: verified removal of personal details with certification, transparency, protection of children and teens, no re-identification, and security in the AI training environment. As of mid-October 2026 the sale still awaited the court, with the hearing set for 2026-11-06.11,12
FAQ
Questions, answered with sources
Usually the debtor itself, as debtor in possession, which may keep operating the business, according to the US Courts guide.1
Passenger name and transaction records, refunds, inflight purchases, timecard and WiFi sales data. The $10.0M price stayed the same.6
Six objections or joinders were filed, from flight attendant, pilot and machinist unions, a software provider and an engine maker.7
Five categories of conditions: certified removal of personal details, transparency, protection of children and teens, a re-identification ban, and security where the AI is trained.11
Yes. Springshot cited its SaaS agreement's ownership language and said it was not seeking to stop the sale.10
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Questions to talk through with your buyer
Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.
Questions for this kind of business
- Does the NLRA or a collective bargaining agreement affect how employee communications in the archive may be licensed?
- Which SaaS agreements claim ownership of data their service generated, and does that carve anything out of the lot?
- Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
- Is a consumer privacy ombudsman, court approval, or notice and a hearing needed?
- How are employee data, union contracts and NLRA questions handled?
- Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?
Questions for any buyer
- Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
- Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
- Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
- How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
- What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
- Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
- Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?