Spirit Airlines, the ultra-low-cost carrier known for its bright yellow planes and basic fares, plans to furlough about one-third of its flight attendants as it struggles to cut costs.
The airline will furlough roughly 1,800 flight attendants effective Dec. 1, company spokesperson Thomas Fletcher said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than a month after the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August — its second bankruptcy filing in a year.
“As we work to return Spirit to profitability, we face difficult decisions about our network, our fleet, and ultimately our workforce,” Spirit Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis wrote in a memo to flight attendants on Monday.
Spirit had earlier avoided involuntary furloughs by placing more than 800 employees on extended voluntary leave, Bendoraitis wrote.
“There is a limit to how many people can volunteer for these types of leave, and we have reached that mark,” he wrote. “We need to shift our focus to a complete rightsizing of the airline, which means volume-based adjustments to our Flight Attendant group.”
The company will first offer voluntary furloughs for a period of six months or one year, according to the flight attendants’ union, the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA. Involuntary furloughs will take effect in December.
Earlier this month, the airline reduced its flight schedule to 12 cities and suspended service to four California airports: Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Diego. Spirit initially filed for bankruptcy in November 2024 and emerged from bankruptcy in March. The company returned to court last month to declare bankruptcy once again, citing the loss of nearly $257 million between March and June.
In a memo to members on Monday, the Assn. of Flight Attendants stated that furloughs were unavoidable at this stage of the bankruptcy process.
“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,” the memo said.
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