Spirit Airlines Inc., the Florida based low-cost US carrier, has canceled it’s flights today after the pilots’ went on strike over issues including pay, specifically, the low pay package offered by the airlines.
The deadline for the talks between Spirit and the pilots union was set at 12:01 am on Saturday, but reports say that the talks went on way past their 12:01 a.m. strike deadline, with the pilots’ union insisting that their pay packages match those of their counterparts – JetBlue and Airtran.
According to a source: “Spirit offered the pilots a 30 percent pay increase, but the pilots have rejected a 30 percent pay increase over five years as well as a $3,000 signing bonus per pilot (total cost of $70 million) to Spirit airlines. Besides this, the new package also allowed the Spirit pilots to retain a four-day off break between each trip.” (UKTN)
The cancelled flights have affected Spirit airline passengers and Spirit has said that a complete refund, plus a $100 future flight credit will be given to all these customers.
