Thousands Face Career Uncertainty After Spirit Airlines Shutdown

The Spirit Airlines shutdown has left thousands of former employees scrambling for work. In an industry where securing a new position can take months, many are struggling while considering alternative career opportunities in the meantime.

Spirit Airlines Shutdown Leaves Thousands Searching for New Careers

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, estimates it could take four to five months for several hundred of the 3,500 Spirit flight attendants to find positions with a new airline. 

Even in this best-case scenario, both pilots and flight attendants will have to deal with losing their seniority. This means forfeiting flexibility in both schedules and work locations. In addition, rehired pilots and flight attendants will have to work their way up the new company’s pay scale.

A laid-off pilot said via Reuters, “My nearly decade of experience at Spirit might help me get a job somewhere else, but it means absolutely nothing when it ​comes to how good that job will be when I walk in the door.” The pilot added, “I’ll be a peer to someone who has never flown a jet before.” There were around 1,800 pilots when Spirit was forced to shut down.

Major airlines have expressed willingness to absorb former Spirit employees. However, hiring remains limited. Many of these airlines have set limits on how many pilots and flight attendants they intend to hire annually. Some have already completed their hiring for the peak summer travel season.

Backpay and Other Issues

Former Spirit Airlines flight attendants are still waiting for their back pay a month after the airline shut down for good. William Roman and Mauricio Valencia, both former Spirit flight attendants, said that thousands received their final paychecks weeks ago, but many contained discrepancies.

Roman said, “A lot of the paychecks had major discrepancies where they were missing hours, they were missing the per diem, they were missing their overtime rate.” 

Valencia added, “When you email the email that they gave us, I get a message saying that this email is not being monitored anymore.”

Last month, former Spirit workers filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the airline failed to provide proper layoff notice. An attorney representing the group said that the workers are seeking 60 days’ worth of pay and benefits for 17,000 former Spirit employees. Spirit has until mid-July to respond to the lawsuit. A  lawyer for the airline said at a court hearing that the carrier provided a notice as soon as it could.