Spirit Air Strike Looms

With frustrations mounting on both sides of the negotiating table, representatives for Spirit Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) are still talking, hoping to avert a pilots strike against the airline. However, it remains to be seen whether it’s possible to hammer out an agreement suitable to both sides during the remaining days of this current “cooling off” period on issues that have been unresolved for three years now.

An ALPA spokesperson said, “The 450 Spirit pilots entered the mandatory 30-day cooling-off period on May 12, but instead of using the cooling-off period to bargain constructively, the airline is warning its employees that it would rather put almost 1,500 workers on the street than provide a fair contract to its pilots.”

At the start of the cooling-off period, a spokesperson at the low-cost carrier reinforced its long-standing position that “Spirit is committed to working with ALPA and intends to reach an agreement that effectively ensures the long-term stability and growth of the company, as well as providing for rewarding and stable careers for our pilots and co-workers who do a great job for the company.”

“Spirit trusts that ALPA shares in the company’s strong commitment to use this period to work diligently to reach a solution that is mutually beneficial for all parties, (and) Spirit intends to operate normally through this process,” she added.

In line with this apparent stalemate, a significant number of pilots from several other ALPA carriers have been helping to carry the ball for Spirit’s personnel, including picketing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Concurrently, Spirit pilots unveiled a billboard campaign in Fort Lauderdale, Detroit and LaGuardia this past week to warn passengers and future customers of the potential strike.