ORLANDO, Fla. — These are turbulent times for thousands of former Spirit Airlines workers across America who suddenly lost their jobs over the weekend when the airline shutdown in Central Florida. More than 1,500 people who used to work for Spirit in Orlando are now looking for jobs.
Florida Commerce and CareerSource Central Florida hosted a rapid response event Tuesday afternoon and will host another one Wednesday, trying to help them.
Several former employees said they received emails at 2 a.m. Saturday morning, telling them not to come into work until further notice. They say by Saturday night, their jobs were gone and their benefits were cut off. Now they are hoping to find new jobs quickly.
Elham Cifuentes is hoping for help after losing her job working at the ticket counter with Spirit Airlines. She says it’s stunning how fast it happened.
“How quickly it happened. The uncertainty of what was going to happen. The uncertainty of what we’re doing now, looking for new employment,” she said.
Cifuentes turned to CareerSource Central Florida Tuesday for help, and she’s glad she did.
“They’re trying to get in contact with some companies. That’s the information we have, and they will be giving us further information,” she said.
CareerSource Central Florida says that just under 1,600 former Spirit employees in Orlando are now looking for work. The rapid response events Tuesday and Wednesday are helping them with career counseling, access to training opportunities, improving resumes, and finding new jobs.
Tadar Muhammad is chief operating officer at CareerSource Central Florida. He says his team is sensitive to what the workers and their families are going through, and CareerSource is partnering with local companies that are coming forward offering to help workers find new jobs.
“They’ve already reached out to say they would like to help and support. So that’s our next step is to connect with our employers that are in our community to sort of jump in and help us find right employment for these individuals for sure,” Muhammad said.
Kari Goetz is an aviation industry consultant and CEO of Winzig Consulting. Goetz says Spirit Airlines employees are known in the industry as being best in class.
“As a result, a lot of airlines are actively recruiting. So we’re seeing Avelo Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier all making moves to try to capture that top-notch talent,” she said.
Goetz adds that seniority reigns supreme in the airline industry.
“When we’re seeing these pilots, flight attendants, maintenance mechanics, customer service, gate agents who have had decades of experience, they are certainly going to be desirable to other airlines for hiring,” she said.
Goetz adds that the aviation industry always needs good workers, and she hopes former Spirit employees will hang in there and try to work with other airlines.
The second rapid response event for former Spirit workers will be held Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the CareerSource Central Florida office located on South Semoran Boulevard.
Travel Planners International says people who still have tickets booked with Spirit can call the credit card company they booked the ticket with and ask them for a full refund.