FORT LAUDERDALE – A strike by Spirit Airlines pilots yesterday threatened to disrupt thousands of vacationers headed to the Caribbean and Latin America from the eastern United States.
The Florida-based carrier cancelled all its flights for the day after its pilots walked out in a dispute over pay. Spirit is the largest single carrier at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport, and its tickets aren’t good on other carriers.
Spirit runs roughly 150 flights a day from several airports in the eastern United States through Fort Lauderdale. More than 5 000 passengers arrive and depart on Spirit at the airport each day, an airport spokesman said.
The airline said it was refunding fares for yesterday’s flights, plus a US$100 credit toward future flights. As recently as Tuesday it had said it was “partnering with other air carrier providers to continue to serve our customers”. It didn’t immediately announce plans for today’s flights.
“As you can imagine, it’s probably going to be a very busy day,” said Greg Meyer, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Spirit pilots have said their pay lags behind competitors such as AirTran Airways and JetBlue. The two sides have been in negotiations for more than three years.
Pilots could have walked out as early as midnight Friday, but kept talking under the guidance of the National Mediation Board in Washington until about 5 a.m. EDT. (AP)
