{"id":8754,"date":"2025-10-17T19:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/8754\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:48:07","slug":"spirit-plans-to-furlough-more-pilots-as-well-as-cut-non-union-staff-at-south-florida-hq-sun-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/8754\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit plans to furlough more pilots, as well as cut non-union staff at South Florida HQ \u2013 Sun Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The impact of Spirit Airlines\u2019 campaign to streamline itself to profitability is extending more deeply into the ranks of the troubled carrier as management has informed employees that up to 365 more pilots may be furloughed in early 2026 along with non-union support workers at corporate headquarters in Dania Beach and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The news was delivered to employees Wednesday in a note from John Bendoraitis, the chief operating officer. The company affirmed the moves in a statement issued Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of our ongoing restructuring, we are taking additional steps to align staffing across our organization with our previously announced capacity reduction and smaller operating fleet size,\u201d Spirit said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past several weeks, we\u2019ve made a number of difficult decisions reflecting the previously announced 25% capacity reduction<\/a> and smaller operating fleet,\u201d Bendoraitis told employees in the note bearing his letterhead.\u00a0 \u201cThe effects of that reality are being felt across our teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another 365 pilots face furloughs in the first quarter of next year, he said, with up to 170\u00a0 \u201ccaptain-to-first officer\u201d downgrades occurring during the same period. Those numbers could decline, however, \u201cwith voluntary attrition.\u201d The final outcome will be known in November. The airline previously furloughed about 330 pilots and is seeking a reported $100 million in cost reductions from the pilots\u2019 contract.<\/p>\n

A company spokesman said Friday that talks with the pilots \u201chave been productive and are ongoing. We are continuing discussions and remain committed to working with ALPA to reach a consensual agreement that positions Spirit and our pilots for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents roughly 2,400 Spirit pilots, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"ASpirit Airlines planes are shown at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which during the airline’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case has retained the airport’s biggest market share. That may soon change as the airline shrinks its fleet and employee rosters. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nRepair bases closing, non-union workers impacted<\/p>\n

An unspecified number of non-union support employees, including those working at \u201cSpirit Central\u201d in Dania Beach and at other locations, also face furloughs, Bendoraitis said. The cuts will start next month \u201cto align with the size and structure of the airline we\u2019ll operate moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the first of the year, maintenance stations and warehouse operations will be closed at Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare International Airport and at Baltimore\/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. In addition, \u201cvolume-based staffing adjustments\u201d will be made across \u201ctech-ops\u201d stations.<\/p>\n

Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 29<\/a> for the second time in less than a year, saying it did so to address various financial and other issues that went untended during an earlier round of court-assisted restructuring between last November and March of this year.<\/p>\n

The airline has since revamped its route system and made arrangements to cut its fleet by nearly half, moves resulting in the furloughs of several hundred pilots and 1,800 flight attendants. It has also arranged for $475 million in debtor-in-possession financing<\/a> with the help of major creditors, while entering into a sweeping overhaul of aircraft leasing arrangements with AerCap Ireland Ltd., its biggest lessor.<\/p>\n

Profit by 2027?<\/p>\n

In a regulatory filing earlier this week, Spirit forecast a net profit of $219 million by 2027, its first in eight years. The forecast calls for even higher earnings in 2028 and 2029. Management estimated losses will be $804 million for this year and $145 million for next year.<\/p>\n

The filing also listed various assets such as planes, airport gates and real estate that have been converted to cash or are being contemplated for sale. The corporate headquarters in Dania Beach is among those mentioned for potential liquidation, bringing a possible $200 million to $250 million.<\/p>\n

Wage and benefit costs are among the biggest targets in the airline\u2019s campaign for savings, the gravity of which is not lost on the executives doing the cutting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe value the contributions of all our impacted Team Members and remain committed to treating everyone with care and respect,\u201d Bendoraitis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven as we take these steps, we still have an airline to run that depends on every one of us bringing our best to the job,\u201d he added. \u201cYour attention to safety, professionalism and commitment to each other are what keep our operation moving and our Guests coming back. Thank you for continuing to show up and deliver, even when it isn\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The impact of Spirit Airlines\u2019 campaign to streamline itself to profitability is extending more deeply into the ranks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,558,8904,28,29,249,251,250,114,266,123,373,115,557,109,1798,4556],"class_list":["post-8754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-business","tag-dania-beach","tag-florida","tag-florida-news","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-miami","tag-miami-dade-county","tag-news","tag-palm-beach-county","tag-social","tag-transportation","tag-west-palm-beach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}