Spirit Airlines will open a new operations center in Orlando, Florida, this summer. Presently, Spirit runs its operations center out of its Miramar HQ. The Orlando facility will supplement the existing Miramar center and see approximately 75 employees relocate.
Welcome news at Orlando Airport
Orlando’s new operations center will be hurricane-proof, and Spirit Airlines cites “hurricane resilience” as a key why it has decided to have two operations centers. It’s not unusual for airlines to have multiple operations centers, but it is relatively unusual for an airline to have two operations centers so close together.
Orlando is only 360 kilometers distant from Miramar, but it is less susceptible to hurricanes. According to Spirit Airlines, the Orlando facility will help ensure Spirit Airlines’ planes stay in the air, regardless of the weather.
It’s a move that Orlando Airport welcomes. The facility is already a busy port for Spirit Airlines. Orlando is Spirit’s second busiest port after Fort Lauderdale. By aircraft numbers, Spirit Airlines is presently the third-busiest carrier at Orlando, bested by Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, but ahead of Frontier, JetBlue, American, and United.
Spirit Airlines positioned to shine in 2021
In a tough operating environment, Spirit Airlines is now better positioned than many of its competitors. With passenger demand down across the airline industry, leisure and visiting family and relatives (VFR) travelers remain among the few bright spots. These are the market segments Spirit Airlines has always targeted.
The new operations center is scheduled to open in June. The 75 employees slated to move to Orlando represent 40% of Spirit’s operations center jobs in Miramar. Down the track, the airline hopes to expand the number of people working in the new Orlando facility. Already, over 1,200 people work for Spirit Airlines at Orlando Airport.
The operations center works as the airline’s corporate brain. It’s where tactical and strategic operational decisions get made on a day-to-day basis, subject to a constantly evolving operating environment. Among other things, operations centers monitor weather, aircraft, security issues, crew rosters, scheduling, medical emergencies, and air traffic control.
Typically, an airline’s operations center runs 24/7, and without it, your average airline business would ground to a halt. A Spirit Airlines spokesperson told Simple Flying their operations center “handles critical tasks associated with keeping planes moving through its network.”
Spirit’s HQ and biggest operations center to stay in Miramar
2020 forced Spirit Airlines to re-assess how it managed its operations center. They’d already split the Miramar facility into two to ensure continuity of operations. The airline also had operations center employees working from home in 2020. At some point, Spirit Airlines made the decision to permanently break up the larger Miramar facility.
Miramar’s susceptibility to hurricanes played a role in that decision. Spirit Airlines cannot have their entire network shut down or hampered by two days of bad weather in Southern Florida. However, the Spirit Airlines spokesperson told Simple Flying the airline’s HQ and the remainder of its operations center staff would stay in Miramar.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Airlines decision adds to the run of recent good news for Orlando Airport. Southwest Airlines recently signed a 20-year lease extension for its maintenance complex at Orlando Airport. The 20-year agreement also has two five-year options. The agreement features a new rent structure and went into effect on February 1, 2021.