The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approached Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) with a request to purchase ten aircraft from the carrier, which is currently under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to support deportation flights by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and for internal travel, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and senior adviser Corey Lewandowski instructed ICE officials to acquire the B737 twinjets from Spirit. However, the ultra-low-cost carrier does not operate Boeing aircraft; its fleet comprises sixty-two A320-200s, ninety-one A320-200Ns, twenty-one A321-200s, and thirty-two A321-200NX. It was unclear whether the error regarding the aircraft type originated from the DHS or the newspaper.

On reviewing the proposal, officials discovered that Spirit did not own the aircraft that were to be bought by the government, and that the planes lacked engines, which would need to be bought separately. As part of its Chapter 11 restructuring, Spirit has agreed to reject around 100 leased aircraft provided by various lessors.

Fleets data indicates that Spirit leases 157 aircraft from nineteen different lessors.

After learning of these complications, and the higher costs involved in acquiring rather than chartering aircraft for ICE’s deportation operations, the plan has reportedly been put on hold. However, the DHS recently purchased two G700s on behalf of the United States Coast Guard.

The average cost of a daily scheduled charter flight is USD8,577 per flight hour, while special high-risk charter operations can range between USD6,929 and USD26,795 per flight hour, according to ICE.

Reports surfaced in August that the DHS was considering purchasing and operating its own fleet of aircraft. Noem had advocated using departmental funds for this purpose to help meet the DHS target of deporting between 30,000 and 35,000 immigrants per month.

ch-aviation reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Spirit Airlines for comment, but neither was immediately available.