Police officers at San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico asked Spirit Airlines employees to change their uniforms to avoid angry passengers. The police asked employees to change their uniforms as passengers started banging on a gate door channeling their frustrations to Spirit Airlines employees.
Made to Change Their Uniforms For Safety
An unnamed 28-year-old flight attendant informed the New York Times of this experience. According to the crew member, at least 35 Spirit employees rushed behind a metal door for cover. Spirit Airlines crew members were then escorted to an office where they were asked to change their uniforms for their safety.
According to the flight attendant, “We were scared”. The Spirit flight attendant added that “I’ve seen crazy stuff but this moved into number one”.
Rough Summer for Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines had to cancel thousands of flights in early August as the airline experienced a variety of problems. The airline had staffing shortages, bad weather, and tech glitches that left thousands of angry passengers stranded at different airports. Sprit CEO Ted Christie apologized to the thousands of passengers stuck at airports in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Houston, and San Juan in Puerto Rico.
The airline canceled more than 2,000 flights from August 1 to 15. Christie said that “There’s definitely some angry people”. He added that “Right now, all I can say is we’re very sorry for what happened”.
According to the airline, the travel meltdown cost Spirit $50 million in lost revenue. As for their third-quarter revenue, Spirit estimated that it will just range between $885 million and $955 million. That’s 4% to 11% lower compared to the same quarter in 2019.
To address the situation, Spirit announced reducing flights for the rest of the quarter which ends September 30. The airline calls it “tactical schedule reductions”.
Rise in Passenger Aggression
Spirit Airlines crew members having to change their uniforms for their safety is just one of the many incidences involving angry passengers. Since the start of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration recorded 2,500 reports of unruly passengers. Some flight attendants even experienced physical abuse in the hands of passengers. Most of the cases involved passengers refusing to wear their masks despite a federal mask mandate.
