Spirit Airlines announced plans on Thursday to furlough an additional 365 pilots and downgrade as many as another 170 more in early 2026. The announcement comes as part of the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts as it makes adjustment to staffing, routes and its fleet. The move follows the carrier’s second bankruptcy filing this year in August.
“As part of our ongoing restructuring, we are taking additional steps to align staffing across our organization with our previously announced capacity reduction and smaller operating fleet size,” a company statement said.
Spirit currently employs about 2,400 pilots. Earlier this year, the company furloughed 330 and plans to furlough an additional 270 in November. In a memo to employees cited by Reuters, Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis said voluntary departures may lower the final furlough count and that a bid process for affected pilots will open at the end of November. The airline also intends to furlough approximately 1,800 flight attendants—around one-third of its cabin crew—effective Dec. 1.
Spirit reported projected losses of $804 million for 2025 but said it aims to return to profitability by 2027 through its transformation plan, which includes a smaller route network and what is said will be more efficient operations.
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