![]() ![]() Giselle Ascione, a United passenger in San Francisco, said the airlines are making a lot of money, and “the pilots as well as the attendants should be paid. All airlines are dealing with rising labor costs, which could show up in the price of a ticket, but fares are also set by supply and demand, notes Blaise Waguespack, who teaches airline management and marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. ![]() The strike failed after Northwest replaced them.The Delta contract that United pilots are using as their starting point will cost Delta $7.2 billion over four years. The last strike at a major carrier was in 2005, when Northwest Airlines mechanics walked off the job rather than accept deep pay cuts. The strike is being closely watched in the industry because pilots at much larger carriers, including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, are also locked in tough negotiations. The offer also included a $3,000 signing bonus and a larger retirement plan match. Spirit's offer also kept a four-day break between every pilot trip, something the company said no other ALPA contract has. ![]() The company offered to raise pilot pay by 30 percent over five years, although work rule changes mean pilots would have to fly more to earn that money. He said he knew its pilots would need raises. Pilots "are sacrificing our paychecks until we get a contract that reflects our contributions to this airline," Sean Creed, a Spirit captain and head of its Air Line Pilots Association unit, said in a statement on the union's website.Īirline analyst Vaughn Cordle said Spirit pilots made more per hour of flying in 2009 in wages and benefits than AirTran pilots, but less than JetBlue.īaldanza said that Spirit has made money over the past year and a half. The airline and its pilots had been negotiating for more than three years. Spirit pilots have said their pay lags behind competitors such as AirTran Airways and JetBlue. He was hoping to add other carriers in the days ahead. He said Spirit has lined up one airplane from another air carrier - he declined to say which one - to complete a few flights. ![]() Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza said in an interview that he hoped to get some of Spirit's 31 aircraft flying soon with management pilots or others who cross the picket line, but that no such flights took place on Saturday. Extra Spirit staff and local police officers were posted in the ticketing area. The Spirit terminal, usually the busiest in Fort Lauderdale, was full of angry travelers desperate to return home or start trips on Saturday. Around the country Spirit runs roughly 150 flights per day. destinations, airport spokesman Greg Meyer said. "I can't even buy a cup of coffee."įort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is Spirit's main hub, where it is the only airline to 14 international cities and five U.S. currency, and nowhere to sleep but the terminal's seats. Ann's parish in Jamaica, who was stranded in Fort Lauderdale while traveling to New York for a cousin's funeral.Įlliott was unable to buy new tickets until his fare was refunded to his debit card. That was out of the question for Junior Elliott, a 67-year-old mason from St. People who needed to replace their Spirit tickets found the cost of same-day fares on other airlines was two- to three times more than their tickets. It was trying to get its passengers booked onto other airlines. The airline said it was refunding fares for Saturday and Sunday flights plus a $100 credit toward future flights. Spirit tickets are only good on a handful of other carriers, and only if there's space on the flight. But its shutdown is causing major problems for its flyers. The privately held airline based in Miramar, Fla., carries 16,680 passengers per day - about 1 percent of the U.S. Spirit's CEO said no talks were scheduled with picketing pilots, and a union leader said the pilots "will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated." FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla - Spirit Airlines flights were being canceled again Sunday as a pilot's strike entered its second day, shutting down the discount carrier and stranding thousands of travelers. ![]()
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