(Reuters) -Spirit Airlines said on Monday it will furlough about 270 pilots while demoting another 140, as the cash-strapped budget carrier looks to scale down its workforce to match a downsized schedule.
The furloughs will go into effect on Nov. 1, while designation downgrades for captains will take place on Oct. 1, the company told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“We are taking necessary steps to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible as part of our efforts to return to profitability,” the airline said.
The announcement, first reported by Bloomberg News, comes as Spirit tries to overhaul its business to move away from its no-frills image and rebrand as a premium airline.
The Florida-based carrier had filed for bankruptcy protection last November, following years of losses, heavy debt, and failed merger attempts. It emerged from bankruptcy in March.
“Spirit continues to shrink, and with it, the value of pilot seniority and Spirit careers continues to erode,” said Captain Ryan Muller, chairman of the Spirit unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, adding that this marks the third round of pilot furloughs and downgrades since September 2024. The union said it is working on a third Furlough Mitigation Memorandum of Understanding to pursue voluntary options to reduce the scope of the furloughs and preserve pilot careers.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Alistair Bell)
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