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Press Release
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—The pilots of Spirit Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), today voiced their strong support for the Trump administration's proposed relief effort for Spirit Airlines.
“Spirit is the reason so many Americans can afford to visit family, travel for work, or take a vacation,” said Capt. Ryan P. Muller, chair of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). “When Spirit enters a market, fares go down. Losing this airline would not just cost 14,000 jobs, it would cost competition, affordability, and access for passengers who have nowhere else to turn.”
Spirit Airlines is in the middle of a restructuring, now facing a sudden and severe fuel shock at the most critical stage. Spirit’s survival is crucial to a competitive, affordable air travel market for all segments of consumers, and the U.S. government must provide support, as it has during other significant shocks to the industry.
“Federal relief is not a handout,” stated Muller. “It is a loan that will allow the airline to finish the work that is already well underway, and it is the right call for 14,000 workers, nearly 2,000 pilots, the families who depend on those paychecks, and the millions of passengers who rely on affordable air travel. Any government relief must protect Spirit employees to ensure we can competitively move forward.”
Since entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August, Spirit has executed a disciplined restructuring, with $100 million in concessions contributed by its pilots and flight attendants and a Restructuring Support Agreement reached with its creditors. The company is on track to emerge from bankruptcy this summer.
“Spirit pilots and our fellow frontline workers put our livelihoods on the line to give this airline a path forward. We did our part,” continued Muller. “The global fuel shock now threatening this industry is not something any airline employee caused, and it is not something this workforce should be asked to absorb alone. The work is being done. What’s needed now is a bridge to the finish line. We urge lawmakers to stand with us.”
Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 80,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.
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