Spirit Airlines to furlough 1,800 flight attendants amid second bankruptcy

Spirit Airlines plans to furlough 1,800 flight attendants before the end of the year, the cash-strapped budget carrier said Monday.

The company said it made the “difficult decision” to put cabin crew members on temporary leave to match staffing needs with expected flight demand during Spirit’s second bankruptcy in a year.

“We recognize the impact of this decision on affected team members, and we are committed to treating them with care and respect during this process,” the airline said in a statement.

Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and subsequently announced that it planned to suspend operations in about a dozen U.S. cities beginning in October.

The union that represents the airline’s flight attendants said Monday that Spirit would seek candidates willing to take six month or one year voluntary furloughs starting Nov. 1 before moving forward with involuntary furloughs based on seniority effective Dec. 1.

The Association of Flight Attendants said it was working to secure “preferential interviews” with other airlines for furloughed flight attendants.

In a letter sent Monday to its members, the union said that while it initially succeeded in staving off furloughs as Spirit tries to slash costs, “the problem is that the significant reduction of aircraft and flight hours requires a much higher reduction in force.”

Spirit, which is based in Florida, says it is ending services in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland; and Salt Lake City. It is also suspending operations in the California cities of Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and San Jose.

Known for its bright yellow planes and no-frills service, Spirit has had a rough ride since the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to rebound amid rising operation costs and its mounting debt. By the time of its first Chapter 11 filing last November, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.

The airline also instituted furloughs and job cuts before filing for bankruptcy last year.

The company’s cost-cutting efforts continued after it emerged from bankruptcy protection in March, including plans to furlough about 270 pilots and downgrade some 140 captains to first officers in the coming months.

Those changes, which are set to take effect on Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, were also tied to expected flight demand in 2026, the company has said.

Spirit has said it was considering selling off certain aircraft and real estate. Its fleet is relatively young, making the airline an attractive target. But buyout attempts from budget rivals like JetBlue and Frontier were unsuccessful both before and during Spirt’s first bankruptcy process.