![]() That means the union can strike, and that management can lock out current employees and replace them. During this period, both sides can continue to negotiate knowing that if the cooling off ends without a deal, each side can resort to self-help. If it gets to this point, the mediator can “release” both sides from the mediation process and then the two sides enter a 30-day “cooling off” period. "They gave me a credit for $100 I don’t think I’m ever going to fly spirit again.The mediation process can fail if the mediator believes that the two sides cannot reach a deal. "What am I going to do? I can’t get upset," she said. Marlene McGill, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, can't go to a wedding because her flight got cancelled. While Spirit assures passengers it will reimburse them, that doesn't help them right now. Anyone who made their reservation prior to May 11 directly with Spirit and purchased travel insurance should call Travel Guard at 86 if their flight has been cancelled. Spirit flies about 12 flights a day from LaGuardia.įor customers with cancelled flights, Spirit is processing a credit for the full amount of the flight as well as providing a $100 future flight credit. A Spirit employee told NBCNewYork the airline tried to reach all of the passengers with scheduled flights today, but some didn't get the word in time, which sent people scrambling. passenger air traffic, according to The Wall Street Journal. The discount airline carries about 1 percent of U.S. In the meantime, a substantial strike fund exists to help the pilots out during the strike. A pilot who wished to remain anonymous told NBCNewYork that no one wanted to strike because of the financial implications, but felt there was no other way. It wasn't immediately clear if Spirit had a contingency plan. "We are frustrated and disappointed that our pilots have turned down an over 30 percent increase at a cost of over $70 million over five years while disrupting thousands of our customers and jeopardizing the livelihoods of our over 2,000 employees," Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza said in a statement. Spirit executives were disheartened by pilots' decision to reject the pay package. "We don't know how long it's going to be."Īt least one pilot claims that's still not what other airlines are paying. "Pilots said they are in it for the long haul," said one pilot, Bill Coogan. While everyone scrambled to figure out if it was possible to fly with another airline, the Spirit pilots picketed silently outside. "I thought I was going to have some fun but now I can’t," he said. ![]() His plans to spend the week at a rented condo down in Myrtle Beach with his son are up in the air. "I feel like picketing this place," said Cathy Crowell of Stratford, Conn.Īnother passenger, Matthew Kearns Sr., of Port Jefferson, called the cancelled flights inexcusable. The 53,000 member union - Air Line Pilots Association - is entirely behind the roughly 500 Spirit pilots on strike.įor passengers, anger erupted in front of the Spirit Airlines desk. The package offered by Spirit would have also allowed them to retain a four-day off break between each trip. Pilots rejected a 30 percent pay increase over five years and a $3,000 signing bonus per pilot for a total cost of $70 million to the airline. The pilots' union wants Spirits pilots to be paid as much as their counterparts at JetBlue and Airtran. Pilots picketed outside the airline late Saturday morning in demonstration of their frustration.īoth sides continued talking through the night past their 12:01 a.m. ![]() passenger airline strike in nearly five years. The airline flies out of LaGuardia and Atlantic City airports. Spirit pilots have said their pay lags behind competitors such as AirTran Airways and JetBlue. Spirit pilots walked off the job Saturday amid an ongoing contract dispute with the airline that has lasted for more than three years. The discount carrier said on its website Sunday that all Spirit Airlines flights have been cancelled through June 15. Spirit Airlines is canceling all of its flights through Tuesday, stranding thousands more passengers as a pilot's strike continues into its third day. ![]()
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