Spirit Airlines Pilots Go On Strike, Tickets No Good On Other Carriers
If you were planning to fly on discount carrier Spirit airlines in the near future you’re out of luck, Spirit pilots went on strike Saturday halting flights to various Eastern U.S. destinations, the Caribbean and Latin America.
The strike halts nearly 150 flights a day and affects up to 5,000 passengers.
Spirit announced today that they will refund their customers, plus provide an additional $100 voucher for future flights, unfortunately Spirit tickets are no good on other carriers.
Spirit customers will also be hard pressed to find last minute travel deals with typical tickets on other airlines costing two to three times the fare.
MSNBC spoke to a customer who was truly stranded because of the cancellation:
Junior Elliott, a 67-year-old mason from St. Ann’s parish in Jamaica, who was stranded in Fort Lauderdale while traveling to New York for a cousin’s funeral.
Elliott was unable to buy new tickets until his fare was refunded to his debit card. He had no cell phone, no U.S. currency, and nowhere to sleep but the terminal’s seats.
“It’s bad now, man,” Elliott said. “I can’t even buy a cup of coffee.”
Spirit has been negotiating with their pilots for more than three years and pilots have become increasingly angered by the companies refusal to pay the same wages offered by competitors including AirTran Airways and JetBlue.
Pilots tried to pull together a new round of negotiations, choosing to walk out 24 hours later than the originally allowed midnight deadline on Friday.
On the Union’s website Spirit cpatain and the head of the airline’s barnaco of the Air Line Pilots association stated:
“In the end, both sides could not reach an agreement,” adding that pilot’s “will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated.”
According to Spirit Airlines an offer to raise pilots pay by 30 percent over five years was rejected. Spirit had also promised to include work rule changes that would have given pilots a four-day break after every pilot trip, a rule that is not found in any other current ALPA contract. Spirit was also offering a larger retirement match program and a $3,000 signing bonus.
