A Spirit Airlines plane at Recent York’s LaGuardia Airport
Leslie Josephs/CNBC
Spirit Airlines is cutting about 200 jobs across the corporate because the struggling budget carrier seeks to cut back costs after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November.
“These decisions weren’t made evenly, as we all know they impact skilled and private lives,” CEO Ted Christie wrote in a staff memo, which was seen by CNBC. “As you all know, we’re facing significant challenges with our business, which is why we have been focused on taking actions to optimize our organization and create more efficiencies. The underside line is, we’d like to run a smaller airline and get back on higher financial footing.”
Spirit had about 13,000 employees on the time of its bankruptcy filing, about 84% of them represented by unions, based on a court filing. The job cuts are to nonunion positions and are a part of the corporate’s plan to chop $80 million in costs.
“With all of those actions, coupled with this week’s reductions to our workforce, we have now reached the $80 million cost-savings goal,” Christie wrote.
The Dania Beach, Florida-based airline had previously furloughed a whole lot of pilots and offered flight attendants prolonged voluntary leaves of absence to try to cut back costs. It has also shrunk its network and reached deals to sell a few of its Airbus jetliner fleet to lift money.
Spirit has struggled since its planned merger with JetBlue was blocked by a federal court on antitrust grounds a 12 months ago, adding to struggles that also included a Pratt & Whitney engine recall and a surge in labor costs after the pandemic.
Christie said the carrier continues to be on course to exit bankruptcy this quarter.
