A Spirit Airlines plane undergoes operations in preparation for departure at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on February 12, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Spirit Airlines It said on Monday it would delay deliveries of new Airbus planes and furlough about 260 pilots as it tried to shore up cash.
“Of course, these steps are not the steps we want to take but they are necessary to ensure a strong and profitable future for Spirit,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie said in a memo to employees on Monday.
Spirit said it will postpone all of the Airbus aircraft it has ordered, which were scheduled for delivery from the second quarter of 2025, until the end of 2026. Instead, it will receive them in 2030 and 2031. Postponements do not include direct delivery. Spirit said it has leased aircraft — one each in the second and third quarters of next year — and no deliveries scheduled for 2027 through 2029.
The budget airline said the deferrals would boost its liquidity by about $340 million over the next two years.
“Deferring these aircraft gives us the opportunity to reset the business and focus on our core airline as we adapt to changes in the competitive environment,” Christie said in a press release.
Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, is looking for ways to boost liquidity and convince investors that it is on the right track to do so as it struggles to ground many of its Airbus planes due to the Corona virus. Pratt & Whitney Call the engine. Planned acquisition by JetBlue Airlines It collapsed earlier this year after a federal judge ruled in January that the deal would be anticompetitive.
The airline said on March 29 that it would receive monthly payments as compensation for grounded Pratt & Whitney engines through the end of 2024, raising cash between $150 million and $200 million.
Spirit said Monday that the trial authorization will take effect in September. The airline already has leaves of absence for flight attendants and there is “no plan” for cabin crew furloughs, the Association of Flight Attendants told members Monday. Spirit is closing Atlantic City, New Jersey, and its crew and staff base will be reassigned.
Other airlines have adjusted their hiring and training in recent weeks, citing a scarcity of planes — a sharp change from a pilot shortage that worsened when demand for travel slumped again after the worst of the pandemic. United Airlines The Pilots Syndicate said late last month that the company is offering unpaid leave to pilots next month due to the delayed arrival of planes from Cairo International Airport. Boeing.
The airline pilots' union, Spirit's union, said Monday it was exploring voluntary measures that could limit the number of pilots' furloughs.
“Coupled with the retirement of our A319 fleet and the ongoing Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issue, the airline finds itself with more pilots than its operations require,” Ryan Mueller, Spirit ALPA chapter president, said in an emailed statement. “The ramifications of the company's announced decision are deeply concerning to our entire trial group.”
Spirit said in the filing that it plans to publish its upcoming financial forecasts for the quarter and full year within the next week. First-quarter results are scheduled to be announced before the market opens on May 6.
