Spirit Airlines Cancels Flights due to Pilot Strike
Spirit Airlines announced on Sunday that they have canceled flights for the next few days while their pilots continue to strike. The 440 pilots, which are being represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, began industrial action on Saturday after mediated talks failed to resolve a dispute with management over benefits, pay and scheduling.
Now that the strike will continue, Spirit Airlines has canceled flights through tomorrow, June 15. The airline says that the Air Line Pilots Association rejected an offer for a compound average 29% increase in pay, which would have cost the company an extra $70 million in the next 5 years. The deal also included an increase in the 401K for the pilots, as well as a signing bonus.
Ben Baldanza, the chief executive of Spirit Airlines, said that the deal would have paid more than $200,000 per year to senior captains. He is concerned that the staff are being used for a bigger political game. The offer should be about the company and only the company - not about the pilots whose contracts are under negotiation at other airlines - he continued, but it appears that other forces are now involved.
Baldanza also said that his goal is to get the carrier in the air again as soon as they can, but he couldn’t say what will happen. Spirit Airlines has some management pilots that could operate flights, he added, but they don’t know yet if some of the striking pilots will cross the picket lines and show up for work.
Spirit Airlines offers flights in the US and to the Caribbean and Latin America, carrying less than 1% of US air passenger traffic. This strike is the first notable job action at a US passenger airline since the mechanics at Northwest Airlines walked out in 2005. The carrier has since been bought out by Delta Air Lines.
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