According to Spirit Airlines’ WARN Notice, a total of 915 employees have been laid off in Houston and Dallas, respectively. This includes 119 pilots and 246 flight attendants who worked at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. At Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, a total of 303 flight attendants were laid off, along with 90 airline pilots.
While federal law typically asks for to give 60 days’ notice before layoffs are announced, Spirit says in its letter dated Saturday—when the airline officially shut down—that its financial insecurity left it with no other option.
“We regret that we are not able to give you more notice of your layoffs,” the letter explained. “We were not able to do so because the Company was actively seeking capital to avoid these layoffs and closures and notice would have precluded the Company from obtaining the capital needed.”
The shutdown follows a failed effort by the Trump administration to keep the airline from going under. The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump floated the idea of a bailout and had given Spirit a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover. Chron has also been following Spirit Airlines’ looming shutdown since mid-April. Even before filing for bankruptcy, the airline began cutting flights out of Houston, operating fewer flights and reducing seat capacity year over year.
In addition to citing bankruptcy in its letter as the reason for the layoffs, Spirit also points to recent, global developments that “left us with insufficient liquidity to continue operations.”
“These conditions—including war in the middle east and a massive run up in fuel prices, that will cost US airlines billions of dollars this year—were not foreseeable by the Company, and developed with a speed and severity that precluded the Company from giving earlier notice as we fought to save Spirit.”
In Florida, where Spirit was headquartered, more than 4,200 employees across the state were laid off, according to Miami New Times, citing WARN notices, prompting dozens of impacted residents to start a GoFundMe to get back on their feet.