A Spirit Airlines airplane taxis for takeoff at Denver International Airport in Denver on Feb. 7, 2022.
Michael Ciaglo | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Spirit Airlines will suspend training for new pilots and flight attendants next month “until further notice,” based on company memos, because it plans for slower growth amid softer demand and the expected grounding of dozens of aircraft for inspections due to a producing problem with some Airbus planes’ engines.
The corporate had already slowed hiring and captain upgrades, Greg Christopher, vp of flight operations at Spirit, said Thursday in a memo to pilots, which was seen by CNBC. “With these recent developments, nonetheless, we can even be suspending all new-hire training efforts starting in November, until further notice.”
The corporate told flight attendants that it’s going to halt new flight attendant training starting Nov. 7 for the foreseeable future. Additionally it is planning to supply voluntary day without work for cabin crew members, based on a separate memo from Tina Milton, vp of inflight experience.
A Spirit spokesman confirmed the changes.
“This just isn’t a choice we have taken calmly, nevertheless it’s needed to make sure our crew staffing levels match our operational need given the variety of aircraft we are able to fly,” he said in an announcement.
The Miramar, Florida-based discount carrier said it expects to need to ground a median of 26 Airbus A320neo aircraft for inspections of engines made by RTX unit Pratt & Whitney after that company disclosed a producing defect in August. The carrier said it expects 13 grounded planes in January, rising to 41 in December of next yr. The airline had a fleet of 202 Airbus planes as of Sept. 30, based on a filing.
“This expectation drives a dramatic decrease within the Company’s near-term growth projections,” Spirit said in a filing. It said it expects capability to be flat to up mid-single digits next yr compared with 2023. The airline is in talks with RTX about compensation for the issue.
Last month, RTX said it expected repairs to take between 250 and 300 days, with a median of 350 planes powered by the geared turbofan engines grounded worldwide between 2024 and 2026.
The budget airline Spirit on Thursday posted a net lack of $157.6 million, which was greater than 4 times its loss a yr ago. It forecast negative margins for the last three months of the yr.
“We proceed to see discounted fares for travel booked through the pre-Thanksgiving period,” CEO Ted Christie said in an earnings release. “And, unfortunately, we’ve not seen the anticipated return to a standard demand and pricing environment for the height holiday periods.”
JetBlue Airways is within the technique of trying to accumulate Spirit, a deal the Justice Department has already sued to dam. The trial is predicted to start next week in Boston.
Frontier Airlines, a fellow discount carrier, continues to rent flight attendants, pilots, and mechanics, an airline spokeswoman said.
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