micro1 Bids $12.5 Million for Spirit Records, Challenging Google’s $10 Million Deal

micro1 has submitted a $12.5 million court-filed offer for Spirit Aviation Holdings’ internal records, topping Google’s agreed $10 million purchase by $2.5 million. The late proposal puts a higher price and a different set of privacy controls before the bankruptcy court just days before it considers whether to approve Google’s sale.

The records come from an airline that stopped flying in May and is being liquidated. They include roughly 500 million Microsoft Teams items, 100 million emails, about 16 million customer chat records, and other operational material—an unusually large archive of how a company communicated and ran its business before shutdown.

A richer offer arrives after the auction

Google’s $10 million agreement followed a court-approved bankruptcy auction. micro1’s counteroffer came after that process, creating a problem that price alone may not solve: bankruptcy courts generally avoid disturbing completed auctions. The judge is scheduled to decide on September 9 whether to approve the Google transaction.

micro1’s terms target the privacy dispute

The bidding contest is also a dispute over controls. Unions representing former Spirit workers have challenged Google’s purchase on privacy grounds. Google says it will not receive personal information in the dataset and will pay an outside firm to remove sensitive customer details.

What micro1 says would change

• The company says it would deidentify the records and keep the data in the United States.
• Its filing excludes disciplinary and investigatory material, as well as records tied to collective bargaining with Spirit unions.
• An independent ombudsman would be selected by Spirit’s advisers rather than by the buyer.

Those commitments distinguish micro1’s proposal from the reported Google arrangement, where Google selected and paid the deidentification firm. They are proposed terms, not yet court-approved conditions, and the September 9 hearing will determine whether Google’s existing deal moves forward.

The two packages may not cover the same archive

The higher bid is not a like-for-like comparison on scope. Google’s agreement reportedly excludes customer chat sessions, loyalty records, and call recordings. micro1’s offer specifically names roughly 16 million customer chat sessions, meaning its larger price is paired with a broader reported package in at least that category.

That leaves the court with a narrow but consequential choice: whether the auction result should stand, or whether the added $2.5 million, altered controls, and differing data scope warrant reconsideration. The scheduled September 9 decision will address Google’s proposed sale while privacy objections remain part of the dispute.