The union that represented thousands of flight attendants at the newly defunct Spirit Airlines says everyone in the United States “had a blast making Spirit the butt of the joke,” which in turn created a reputation so hard to shake that potential passengers would avoid flying with the airline at all costs.
Now, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), led by firebrand leader Sara Nelson, who is often described as the most powerful flight attendant in the United States, is racing to secure protections for the 5,500 crew members at Spirit, who woke up on Saturday to discover their livelihoods had been ripped away from them.
At 3:00 am ET on May 2, Spirit announced a move that had been rumored throughout Friday – the airline had run out of money, and all possible avenues to secure new funding had been exhausted without success.
Unable to lock in a $500 million federal government bailout after creditors raised objections to the terms of the deal, Spirit was left with no choice but to wind up its operations for good after 34 years of business.
The Trump administration says it has already stepped up to secure rescue fares and additional flights for stranded passengers, while airlines are opening up jumpseats and travel privileges to Spirit employees to get them back home.
With no time to spare, attention is already turning to secure protections of thousands of Spirit employees who have suddenly found themselves unemployed through no fault of their own.
“Spirit Flight Attendants and thousands of other workers have invested their hearts and souls into this airline, and now their lives are on the line,” Nelson commented on Saturday.
“Spirit Flight Attendants are not just some asset to be written off in this process. Their lives matter, and the livelihoods of all Spirit workers must come before the profits of shareholders.”
Nelson has already sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling, urging them to ensure that Spirit employees receive owed wages as quickly as possible, along with other protections.
“I urge you to deploy the full capacity of the federal government to support these workers, who have abruptly lost their income, healthcare, and livelihoods,” Nelson wrote in the letter.
Nelson suggests that the Trump administration’s military intervention in Iran was the catalyst for Spirit’s downfall, given that the airline had been hoping to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy this Spring had it not been for the near doubling of jet fuel prices caused by the Iran War.
“This moment requires immediate federal intervention and is consistent with prior action taken during national crises,” Nelson wrote.
Nelson is hoping the federal government will fund the healthcare plans for Spirit employees for the remainder of 2026 and provide a temporary $600 weekly supplement to state unemployment benefits for a period of six months.
Some airlines, including Texas-based American Airlines, have offered to hire former Spirit employees, but to accelerate this process, Nelson has suggested that the federal government provide a temporary wage subsidy.
In the meantime, the union continues to work with Spirit’s management to get answers for some of the biggest questions facing flight attendants and other employees. Unfortunately, some of the questions won’t be easy to answer.
