Beleaguered ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has announced plans to furlough 1,800 flight attendants as it fights for survival amidst its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in less than a year.
On Monday, the Florida-based carrier said just over one-third of flight attendants would be furloughed by December 1 in order to “align staffing with our fleet size and expected flight volume.”
Spirit plans to slash underperforming routes and sell off spare aircraft in the coming weeks and months, as it attempts to shrink itself back to profitability. The result is that the airline will require far fewer employees for some time to come.
Some flight attendants are already on voluntary furlough, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) says this voluntary program has “been able to mitigate harm for our workgroup until this point.”
“Together we have been able to stave off furlough announcements through this program,” the union told its members on Monday. “The problem is that the significant reduction of aircraft and flight hours requires a much higher reduction in force, and the company is clear that a furlough is necessary.”
Voluntary furloughs will continue to be offered, but if there aren’t enough volunteers, Spirit will issue WARN notices in reverse seniority order. In other words, flight attendants who were the last in will be the first out.
The union is attempting to secure preferential interview slots with other US carriers for Spirit flight attendants.
Late last month, Spirit voluntarily petitioned for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. This was the second time in less than a year that Spirit had filed for Chapter 11.
The first Chapter 11 process in November 2024 focused on securing additional funding through a pre-packaged deal with investors. Unfortunately, Spirit burned through that funding pretty quickly without making any major changes to its business to stem to losses.
This second Chapter 11 process is all about implementing what Spirit chief executive Dave Davis has described as a “comprehensive restructuring.”
The airline has been very open about the fact that it needs to slash its route network and schedule, sell spare aircraft, and auction off airport gates and unneeded real estate.
Invariably, this level of downsizing means that Spirit will require far fewer employees than up to this point.
Today’s news of furloughs won’t have taken flight attendants at the embattled carrier by surprise. Even before the second Chapter 11 process, flight attendants were being warned by their airline to take stock of their finances over fears that Spirit wouldn’t survive another year.
Davis currently appears to be trying to steer Spirit towards a future as an independent airline, rather than seeking a merger with a rival like Frontier Airlines.
What’s interesting with this strategy is that it is so different from what Spirit wanted only a couple of years ago, when it first accepted a merger deal with Frontier, before settling on an acquisition by JetBlue that would have seen the Spirit brand retired.
Ultimately, the acquisition by JetBlue was blocked by a federal judge who ruled Spirit should remain independent as its low-cost model was essential for low-income Americans to be able to travel.
