Spirit Airlines issued WARN notices to pilots last month as the airline prepared to furlough over 200 pilots. Now, as reported by Aero Crew News, Spirit’s final pilot furlough numbers have been published. The Miramar, Florida based ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) will furlough 186 pilots and downgrade an additional 96 captains. This marks the first pilot furloughs for the carrier since 2008.
Spirit Update:
— Aero Crew News (@AeroCrewNews) August 29, 2024
Spirit has published the final furlough numbers:
– 186 pilot furloughs
– 96 Captain downgrades.
These are Spirit's first pilot furloughs since 2008. pic.twitter.com/IWYrcTiBvs
The carrier has been working to reinvent itself in recent months, releasing new fare bundles and branding, amid ongoing issues with its Pratt & Whitney powered Airbus A320s and the subsequent grounding of large portions of the fleet. The move comes as many many airlines have placed more focus on premium travel demand in recent months and may be steering clear of ULCCs.
A proposed merger between the ULCC and JetBlue was also scrapped after a federal judge blocked the deal. The collapse of the merger put the airline and its employees in an even more precarious financial position.
This is an unfortunate situation for spirit pilots and comes amid a slowdown in pilot hiring across the industry. Many airlines have restricted hiring and pushed back training classes in recent months, a far cry from where we were in the early post-pandemic travel boom.
The Spirit Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing Spirit’s pilots, has placed furlough resources on its website for affected members.
Summary
Spirit Airlines has finalized its pilot furlough numbers that were first reported back in early July. 282 pilots were affected with 186 furloughed and another 96 downgraded from captain. For the employees’ sake, I hope Spirit’s financial situation improves soon but they appear to have a very rocky road ahead.
