It is crunch time for several airlines as fall approaches. Amid talk of staff uncertainties across the United States’ aviation industry, Spirit Airlines’ pilots’ union has this week shared that 600 pilots will avoid being furloughed.
Working out a deal
CNBC reports that Spirit’s pilots’ union has reached an agreement for nearly half of some 2,500 pilots to temporarily work fewer hours each month from the start of October. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) shares that this process would bring a reduction in costs that assists the carrier in avoiding involuntary cuts.
The low-cost airline said that it could furlough approximately 2,500 workers. However, the actual number would be a small portion of this amount due to employees signing up for voluntary layoffs.
Working together
According to a statement seen by Simple Flying, Capt. Scott Vallach, chairman of ALPA’s Spirit Airlines Master Executive Council, is proud of the willingness of the workers to help each other and ensure that no Spirit pilot goes without a paycheck. He also thanked the airline’s management for partnering with his team to sit down and find a path that helps the company survive while keeping all of the pilots in employment.
“At a time where airlines struggle to keep pace with the ever-changing demand for air travel and airline crews struggle to keep themselves and their families healthy, Spirit Airlines pilots and management worked together to reach an agreement that mitigates the remaining furloughs planned for October 2020,” Vallach said in the statement.
“Effective immediately, the 600 planned furloughs have been canceled.”
Critical moments
Altogether, over 11,000 airline pilots in the US had already received notices of potential furlough. Moreover, today, American Airlines shared that it would need to furlough around 17,500 US-based employees from the beginning of October. Altogether, as the end date of the CARES Act approaches, several jobs are at risk.
The terms of the act will end on September 30th. Management and employees across the market would have been hoping that the impact of the global health crisis wouldn’t still be so severe after over six months of the act being introduced. However, the aviation industry continues to be rocked with several travel restrictions in place. Nonetheless, Spirit and its pilots’ union are managing to find ways to avoid as many cuts as possible.
Simple Flying reached out to Spirit Airlines for comment on this update but did not hear back before publication. We will update the article with any further announcements.
What are your thoughts about Spirit Airlines’ pilots’ union reaching such a deal? Do you feel that this is a good move? Let us know what you think of the situation in the comment section.