Spirit Airlines may furlough up to 30 percent of workforce

Wednesday, 31 Jul, 2020 0

Spirit Airlines has cautioned its 9,000 strong workforce that it may have to shrink by up to 30%.

Nearly a third could be furloughed when government payroll protection funding runs out at the end of September.

The Spirit pilots’ union said more than 800 pilots could be furloughed or terminated with some rehiring rights.

The union is working with management to mitigate the number of cuts.

Flight attendant jobs are also at risk.

"It’s now clear that the demand increase we saw in June was an outlier, and the downward trend will continue," Spirit’s CEO Ted Christie said in an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The airline posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and is working to shrink its daily cash burn which Christie said is ‘unsustainable.’

Airline unions have called for federal payroll protection to be extended beyond the end of September to save thousands of jobs.

A majority of U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers requested a six-month extension, which they say will protect the livelihoods of ‘hundreds of thousands of airline workers.’

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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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