Spirit Cutbacks Are Official...

[BigMotorToter]

AIRLINES

Job cuts ahead for Spirit Airlines

Miramar-based Spirit Airlines has sent letters to union leaders saying it will close bases and lay off or displace hundreds of pilots and flight attendants.

Posted on Tue, Jun. 03, 2008

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BY INA PAIVA CORDLE

[email protected]

EMILY MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD FILE

Spirit Airlines may lay off or displace up to 60 percent of its flight attendants and as many as 45 percent of its pilots in two months, as it struggles to cope with soaring jet-fuel prices.
The Miramar-based low-cost carrier sent letters to union leaders Saturday, notifying them that it will furlough or displace up to 448 flight attendants and 242 pilots on Aug. 1, as the airline closes its New York LaGuardia and San Juan bases and reduces its Fort Lauderdale base. For flight attendants, the airline is also shutting its Detroit base.
''We were blindsided,'' said Sean Creed, chairman of the Spirit Airlines pilots union. ``Nobody expected it.''
Spirit would not confirm the numbers or disclose what flight cancellations will accompany the layoffs.
But according to the letters to Patricia Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, up to 240 attendants will be affected in Fort Lauderdale, 141 in Detroit, 15 in New York and 52 in San Juan. Each letter names the flight attendants affected. Spirit has about 750 flight attendants.
The letters, written by Jeff Carlson, Spirit's vice president of flight operations, are required by law under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, as well as by union contracts.
Creed said that up to 242 pilots will also be affected, but he was driving and did not have the letters with the breakdowns by base. Spirit has 540 pilots, he said.
''Everybody is shocked,'' said Creed, who is based in Fort Lauderdale but lives in Connersville, Ind. ``We had a meeting [May] 21st with the company, when they gave a completely different impression of the state of the industry as far as Spirit Airlines is concerned.''
Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson would not discuss details.
''Spirit notified the labor representatives of flight crews of potential reductions. These notices are necessary to comply with the WARN Act,'' she wrote via e-mail in response to questions.
``Spirit has made no final decisions about reductions, if any, but to maintain flexibility, we will need to continue to evaluate our overall flying this fall during our lowest demand period of the year if fuel prices remain at record levels.''
Spirit's roots are in Detroit, but it moved to Miramar in 1999 and began its strongest growth spurt after the private equity firm Indigo Partners took a majority ownership stake in July 2006.
Boosting its flights to Latin America and the Caribbean, Spirit in May 2007 became the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
But the airline lost $16.7 million in the fourth quarter, on $187.1 million in revenue, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The prospective layoffs are the latest pullback in an industry reeling from record fuel prices. Last month, American Airlines said it would eliminate an unspecified number of jobs as it reduces its domestic capacity up to 12 percent in the fourth quarter.

 

[chperplt]

AIRLINES

Job cuts ahead for Spirit Airlines

Miramar-based Spirit Airlines has sent letters to union leaders saying it will close bases and lay off or displace hundreds of pilots and flight attendants.

Posted on Tue, Jun. 03, 2008

Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email

BY INA PAIVA CORDLE

[email protected]

EMILY MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD FILE

Spirit Airlines may lay off or displace up to 60 percent of its flight attendants and as many as 45 percent of its pilots in two months, as it struggles to cope with soaring jet-fuel prices.
The Miramar-based low-cost carrier sent letters to union leaders Saturday, notifying them that it will furlough or displace up to 448 flight attendants and 242 pilots on Aug. 1, as the airline closes its New York LaGuardia and San Juan bases and reduces its Fort Lauderdale base. For flight attendants, the airline is also shutting its Detroit base.
''We were blindsided,'' said Sean Creed, chairman of the Spirit Airlines pilots union. ``Nobody expected it.''
Spirit would not confirm the numbers or disclose what flight cancellations will accompany the layoffs.
But according to the letters to Patricia Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, up to 240 attendants will be affected in Fort Lauderdale, 141 in Detroit, 15 in New York and 52 in San Juan. Each letter names the flight attendants affected. Spirit has about 750 flight attendants.
The letters, written by Jeff Carlson, Spirit's vice president of flight operations, are required by law under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, as well as by union contracts.
Creed said that up to 242 pilots will also be affected, but he was driving and did not have the letters with the breakdowns by base. Spirit has 540 pilots, he said.
''Everybody is shocked,'' said Creed, who is based in Fort Lauderdale but lives in Connersville, Ind. ``We had a meeting [May] 21st with the company, when they gave a completely different impression of the state of the industry as far as Spirit Airlines is concerned.''
Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson would not discuss details.
''Spirit notified the labor representatives of flight crews of potential reductions. These notices are necessary to comply with the WARN Act,'' she wrote via e-mail in response to questions.
``Spirit has made no final decisions about reductions, if any, but to maintain flexibility, we will need to continue to evaluate our overall flying this fall during our lowest demand period of the year if fuel prices remain at record levels.''
Spirit's roots are in Detroit, but it moved to Miramar in 1999 and began its strongest growth spurt after the private equity firm Indigo Partners took a majority ownership stake in July 2006.
Boosting its flights to Latin America and the Caribbean, Spirit in May 2007 became the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
But the airline lost $16.7 million in the fourth quarter, on $187.1 million in revenue, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The prospective layoffs are the latest pullback in an industry reeling from record fuel prices. Last month, American Airlines said it would eliminate an unspecified number of jobs as it reduces its domestic capacity up to 12 percent in the fourth quarter.

Where does it say in that article that anything is official? It looks to me like another article saying the same thing all the other articles have said.

I see words like "may" and "possible", but nothing that says done deal.... The actual quote from management was no decision has been made. Doesn't sound official to me.

Good luck to the Spirit folks.

 

[PCL_128]

Agreed. WARN letters don't necessarily mean that anything is official. It's a management CYA in the event that they do decide to go ahead with such layoffs. The law requires 30 days notice minimum, so they might just be sending these out in case they make a decision and want to be able to do it quickly. Still, it doesn't sound good, but it's not really a done deal.

 

[Monster Buck]

Best of luck to all the Spirit Pilots. You all are a great bunch and I hope this doesn't come to fruitation.

 

[waterski]

NOT REALLY.

Spirit Airlines President Says No Layoffs Planned

POSTED: 3:19 pm EDT June 3, 2008
UPDATED: 8:48 pm EDT June 3, 2008


MIAMI -- The president of Spirit Airlines said Tuesday the carrier has no plans for layoffs, despite reports that implied it is laying off half of its employees.

According to letters released Tuesday by union leaders, the airline may lay off or move up to 60 percent of its flight attendants and 45 percent of its pilots in an effort to cut costs and deal with soaring fuel prices.

The Miramar-based discount carrier wrote in the notification letters that it plans to close its hubs in New York's LaGuardia Airport and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and shrink its main Fort Lauderdale hub by Aug. 1. The airline is also closing its Detroit hub for flight attendants, according to the letters.

Spirit told NBC 6 no layoffs are planned. The airline's hub will stay in Fort Lauderdale, but the carrier may relocate crews to different cities to save money.

The letters, required by law under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, were sent out Friday by Jeff Carlson, the airline's vice president of flight operations. Carlson wrote in the letters that the airline will furlough or displace up to 448 flight attendants and 242 pilots.

"It's kind of unfortunate that it got put out that way," said Spirit President and CEO Ben Baldanza.

He said the letters began as a precaution to keep the airline alive and then became a rumor that the carrier was dying.

"The Spirit management team, the owners of Spirit and all of the employees of Spirit are completely committed to working through a very tough economic environment with high fuel prices, doing what it takes to keep the airline stable, solid and growing over time, and that's exactly what we're all here to do 24-7," he said.

Baldanza said the airline will not raise airfares and has no plans to cut any routes. He said the carrier is even adding new destinations.

"If we make the actual decision to shrink at all -- to reduce one frequency on one route or return some airplanes or do anything -- if we made that decision, which we have not made yet, we would absolutely talk to all the employees affected directly about that change and what that meant for them," he said.

But the letters sparked concern from the pilot and flight attendants unions.

"It was utter shock," said Sean Creed, chairman of the Spirit Airlines pilots union. "To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. We are devastated."

Spirit has about 540 pilots.

As many as 240 attendants could be affected in Fort Lauderdale, 141 in Detroit, 15 in New York and 52 in San Juan, according to letters sent to Patricia Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Spirit has about 750 flight attendants.

"These are the worst case scenario numbers," said Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, the union that represents Spirit's attendants. "It's likely the ultimate number will be less, but it kind of popped out of nowhere."

Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said the notices were necessary to comply with the WARN Act.

"We have made no final decisions about reductions, if any, but to maintain flexibility, we will need to continue to evaluate our overall flying this fall during our lowest demand period of the year if fuel prices remain at record levels," she wrote in an e-mail.

Creed said he has been flooded with calls from concerned pilots, who were listed by name and title in the letters.

"It's very difficult, as a pilot, if you lose your job to go find another one," Creed said. "Pilots are worried about their future."

Baldanza said the airline is getting ready to make changes to deal with the tough economic times but has not committed to anything. He said the carrier plans to grow over the next few months.

"In a fast-changing economic environment, generally the people who survive and the people who win out of that environment are those who are the lowest cost producers of their product," he said. "And Spirit is the lowest-cost producer of its product everywhere we fly, and therefore, if you're going to bet on any airline for the fall, Spirit is the kind of airline to bet on."

The airline industry is struggling to overcome with record fuel prices.

"Fuel is pushing up to be 50 percent of our total cost and that compares to less than 20 percent just a few years ago," Baldanza said.

Last month, American Airlines said it would cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter, after the peak summer season is over.

Delta Air Lines said in March that it would offer voluntary severance payouts to roughly 30,000 employees -- more than half its work force -- and cut U.S. capacity by an extra 5 percent. The Atlanta-based carrier said last week that more than 3,000 people took the package, and Delta will accept all the volunteers.

Spirit, which is privately owned, flies to 36 cities in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. The carrier employs about 2,200 people and has hubs in Detroit and Fort Lauderdale. Spirit is one of the largest carriers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
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[_BravoWhiskey_]

Geez, it's almost like they (meaning mgmt) are torturing crews purposefully.

 

[Shrek]

Geez, it's almost like they (meaning mgmt) are torturing crews purposefully.

BINGO..........it is contract negotiating time.

 

[Fubijaakr]

How many times has the "no layoffs" press release been followed by a furlough letter the next day? It happens all the time.

 

[GuppyPuppy]

Best of luck to all the Spirit Pilots. You all are a great bunch and I hope this doesn't come to fruitation.

What does fruitation mean?

GP

 

[Monster Buck]

:uzi:GuppyPuppy

GP[/quote]

Sorry Fruition. Smartazz.

 

[GuppyPuppy]

:uzi:GuppyPuppy

GP

Sorry Fruition. Smartazz.

I enjoy it much more than being a dumbazz!

GP

 

[Freight Dog]

At least you guys are getting WARNed.

At Aloha, we got SCREWed.

 

[NEDude]

So what, the WARN letters were just for practice?