Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spirit, pilots extend order barring slowdown
As flight disruptions continued to hamper Spirit Airlines on Thursday, the company and its pilots union announced an agreement to indefinitely extend a court order barring a slowdown by members of its cockpit crews.
The agreement dictates that the pilots must restore “the status quo” while Spirit and the Air Line Pilots Association International continue federally mediated contract negotiations.
The restraining order will remain in effect until a collective bargaining agreement is signed and ratified or, if applicable, the parties are released from mediation by the National Mediation Board, Spirit said.
The unionized pilots are not on strike.
Since the initial order was granted Monday by a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, ALPA has petitioned the Spirit pilots to resume picking up open flying time, which is basically over time above their already scheduled flights.
“On behalf of our customers and fellow Spirit team members, we really appreciate the effort of our pilots who are taking on open flying to restore the operation,” said John Bendoraitis, Spirit’s chief operating officer.
Through late afternoon Thursday, Spirit cancelled 51 flights system wide with 34 delays, according to airline flight tracker FlightAware.com.
At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, seven flights were canceled and another four were delayed, FlightAware reported.
“We’re currently experiencing about 50 cancellations, as expected,” said Stephen Schuler, Spirit’s senior manager, external communications, in an email Thursday. “These cancellations were issued yesterday, so we could give our customers plenty of notice and help them find alternate travel.”
That’s a major relief in the wake of chaotic airport scenes from Monday night in Fort Lauderdale, when three travelers among dozens of displaced Spirit flyers were arrested as tempers flared and threats of bodily harm were made against the airline’s employees assisting other passengers.
On Monday, the low-cost carrier filed a lawsuit against the union and selected representatives alleging a week long pilots’ work slowdown had caused approximately 300 flight cancellations and displaced more than 20,000 customers.
The Miramar-based carrier said the slowdown resulted in about $8.5 million in lost revenue and caused “irreparable harm to its goodwill.”
Spirit alleged the pilots’ action was an attempt to influence current labor negotiations, and said it “reluctantly filed this suit to protect” its customers and operations.
On Tuesday, in communications to Spirit’s nearly 1,600 pilots, the union urged them to adhere to the court order and work to return the airline’s operations to normal.
“You must resume your normal working schedule and practices: pick up open time flying and accept junior assignment flying,” the ALPA notice said. “So that we are clear: you must immediately cease and desist from any concerted refusal to conduct pilot operations in the normal manner, including regarding picking up open time, accepting junior assignment flying and answering calls from crew scheduling, and to cease and desist from any and all other refusals to perform normal pilot operations.”
When reached by phone Thursday, Spirit spokesman Paul Berry acknowledged that it could take a few more days before operations completely return to normal.
“We’re hopeful that each day that goes by, there will be more pilots signing up for open flying and there will be more travelers getting to where they need to go.”
“We’re hopeful that each day that goes by ... there will be more travelers getting to where they need to go.” Paul Berry, Spirit spokesman