Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spirit tries to calm turbulence
Airline gets court order against pilots, accommodates stranded fliers
Spirit Airlines struggled Tuesday to return operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to normal after the carrier obtained a court order against its pilots to end a weeklong slowdown that disrupted the travels of 20,000 customers.
By late Tuesday afternoon there were still lines of frustrated passengers at the airport, the scene of a brawl Monday night involving passengers and police. The violence, which was a culmination of some 300 flight cancellations and delays since last week, went viral and drew a public rebuke from senior U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida.
The airline said Tuesday that it was issuing refunds to affected passengers or rebooking them, some on different airlines. Some customers got caught on both ends of the slowdown.
“I’m so frustrated I want to use the F-bomb right now, and I don’t usually say that,” said Carol Schwemin, 62, who with her husband endured an odyssey to Cuba that began April 28 in Chicago..
After a series of southbound cancellations, they reached Fort Lauderdale and
switched to JetBlue to go to Cuba. After nine days there, they flew back Tuesday to Fort Lauderdale and once again into the mix of delays. Their 6:45 p.m. Spirit flight to O’Hare International Airport was canceled.
“We’re trying to find another flight right now,” Schwemin said, thrusting her hands into the air as she stood next to a bank of flight monitors.
Earlier, a U.S. District Court judge in Fort Lauderdale granted Spirit’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent further work slowdown by the pilots. A hearing on a preliminary injunction is set for May 15.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the disruption and inconveniences they have suffered,” Spirit spokesman Paul Berry said. “We believe this is the result of intimidation tactics by a limited number of our pilots affecting the behavior of the larger group. We are hopeful that we can put this moment behind us and get back to serving our customers.”
The Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents Spirit’s contingent of approximately 1,600 pilots, denied involvement in any job action but promised to help restore order to airline operations.
Still, the flight disruptions and subsequent publicized passenger ire caught the attention of Nelson, who spoke about the latest black eye to the industry during a speech on the Senate floor.
“I have just gotten off the phone with the CEO of Spirit Airlines as well as the head of the Air Line Pilots Association and basically have told them that they should get this thing fixed and get it fixed quick,” said Nelson, who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees the nation’s airline industry.
“What happened [Monday] night in Fort Lauderdale is just another example of passengers becoming sick and tired of what they perceive as mistreatment by airlines,” Nelson added.
Throughout Tuesday, lines persisted at Spirit ticket counters in Fort Lauderdale as passengers waited to see whether they could be rebooked.
While some wearylooking travelers slumped over their luggage to catch some sleep, and about a dozen Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies stood nearby, the scene inside Spirit’s Terminal 4 appeared to be normal.
Four Rock Valley College sophomores looking to return to Rockford, Ill., for final exams learned during their Uber ride to the airport that their return likely would be delayed.
“The driver turned on the radio and we heard about the fights in the terminal and the first thing we thought was, ‘Oh, no, there goes our flight,’ ” said Austin Roddewig, 20. The four were in Miami to attend the Rolling Loud Festival.
The students immediately went to the ticket counter and were rebooked. Two got a flight Tuesday afternoon out of Miami International Airport on American Airlines; two are to fly out tonight on Spirit, which paid for their overnight stay at a hotel.
Chicago visitors Tamari Cameron, 23, and Latreece Smith, 26, spent the night at the airport after their flight was canceled.
“It started last night, flights were canceled,” Cameron said. “Fights broke out due to the frustration with Spirit and customers and then it turned into customers against police.”
Three travelers were arrested late Monday as tempers flared and threats of bodily harm were directed at Spirit employees trying to assist travelers, according to the Broward County Sheriff ’s Office.
But the delays’ impact went far beyond Broward County.
In its lawsuit, Spirit said the pilots’ work slowdowns over the past week led to approximately 300 cancellations and affected more than 20,000 customers, resulting in $8.5 million in lost revenue and “irreparable harm to its goodwill.”
Spirit alleges the pilots’ action is an attempt to influence current labor negotiations, and that it “reluctantly filed this suit to protect” its customers and operations.
For more than two years Spirit and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International, have been in contract negotiations. Talks are now supervised by the National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C.
“We are disappointed that ALPA has decided to engage in this unlawful slowdown,” Spirit spokesman Berry said in a statement. “This is clearly unlawful activity under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the airline industry. ALPA and those individuals responsible should be held accountable.”
In court documents, the Miramar-based carrier said the pilots’ refusal to accept junior assignments or pick up available “open time flying” led to the systemwide flight cancellations that have hit operations in key cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Chicago’s O’Hare, Detroit and Las Vegas the hardest.
In an updated statement Tuesday, the pilots’ union vowed to help return operations to normal.
“The court has spoken and Spirit pilots will fully comply with the order handed down, which is completely in line with our overriding goal: the resumption of normal operations,” the union said. “We call on the company to join forces with ALPA and the Spirit pilots to do just that.”
Still, in recent months, Spirit pilots have voiced concern over the slow pace of contract negotiations and their dissatisfaction with current pay rates, retirement benefits and its lack of profit-sharing.
In its lawsuit, Spirit said the parties are in agreement on 22 out of 31 sections of a new collective bargaining agreement but remain “far apart” on pay rate issues.
The unionized pilots have asked for more than $1.9 million in wages, retirement benefits, profitsharing and retroactive pay over a five-year period, while Spirit has proposed a package worth more than $440 million, the company asserted in its court filing.
Spirit said its offer would result in a 30 percent pay increase for the pilots at the signing of the new contract.
However, at an April 25 bargaining session, the union voiced “strong displeasure” with the offer. Soon thereafter, the airline saw a significant spike in cancellations because of pilot unavailability, Spirit said.
In a statement last month following the airline’s first-quarter earnings report, which showed a solid profit, a representative for the unionized pilots suggested the company needs to share the wealth.
If the talks were to fall apart, the National Mediation Board could declare negotiations at an impasse — a necessary step to trigger a 30-day cooling-off period that would produce last-ditch negotiations that could lead to an agreement or a strike.
Spirit pilots last walked off the job in June 2010, after four years of failed talks. A month later, the sides agreed to a five-year contract that included pay raises.
On Tuesday, Spirit’s stock price fell 2.30 percent to $56.11 in trading on the Nasdaq.