Sept. 22 (UPI) — Spirit Airlines plans to furlough 1,800 flight attendants, about one-third of cabin-crew members, to cut costs during its second bankruptcy in a year.
The airline filed for bankruptcy Aug. 30, less than six months after emerging from Chapter 11 reorganization.
The budget carrier said it was “executing a comprehensive restructuring of the airline to position the business for long-term success.” The company filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
“As we work to return Spirit to profitability, we face difficult decisions about our network, our fleet, and ultimately our workforce,” John Bendoraitis, Spirit’s chief operating officer, wrote in a memo sent to flight attendants on Monday, CNBC reported.
About 800 Spirit flight attendants already have been out on voluntary leaves of absence, which has helped the airline avoid involuntary furloughs, Bendoraitis said.
“However, there is a limit to how many people can volunteer for these types of leave, and we have reached that mark,” he said.
Spirit has about 5,200 flight attendants, who are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
“We have been able to mitigate harm for our workgroup until this point,” the AFA said in a message to members. “The problem is that the significant reduction of aircraft and flight hours requires a much higher reduction in force, and the company is clear that a furlough is necessary.”
Voluntary furloughs are also being offered to Spirit flight attendants starting in November, the union said.
“Management has also indicated, though not officially notified us yet, that they will be seeking changes to our contract per Section 1113 of the Bankruptcy Code. We do not have any further details on this at this time. Information will move quickly, though, and we encourage you to stay close to your AFA communications,” the AFA said.
The furlough announcement follows earlier cuts of the airline’s pilots. In the past several months, it has cut more than 500 pilot jobs.
Bendoraitis told the union, the Air Line Pilots Association, last week that that management is “available to continue to negotiate every day thereafter to reach a consensual agreement” by Oct. 1.
Earlier this month, Spirit cut routes to several cities, and United picked up some of those routes. Spirit said it will cease operations in Albuquerque, N.M.; Birmingham, Ala.; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Columbia, S.C, Macon, Ga.; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City, Utah; plus California cities Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento and San Jose in October.