ORLANDO, Fla. — Hundreds of people who call Central Florida home will be out of work and will face different job prospects as they try to move on from Spirit Airlines.
The airline confirmed in a filing Monday that it had 796 Orlando-based employees, including pilots, flight attendants, desk attendants and maintenance workers.
Many of those employees served for years and thanked Spirit on social media for giving them a chance to carry out their dreams.
“I’ve been blessed and I am grateful that I was able to fulfill my dream and passion for what I love to do,” one worker, Sylvia, wrote, adding that she planned to attend a vigil Wednesday for workers to honor their service to the airline.
The workers will face different job markets as they begin to hunt for a new set of wings. Customer-facing jobs are currently rare, with few listings posted on employment sites.
Others, such as pilots and mechanics, should be able to find work quickly, Embry-Riddle’s Dr. Blaise Waguespack explained.
“Every airline is hurting for maintenance people,” he said, before turning to other positions: “Every airline is trying to manage costs the best they can right now, especially with fuel. So, it may not be as easy, unfortunately, for those folks to quickly find employment with another airline if they want to do that.”
Over the weekend, the Association of Flight Attendants wrote to the Department of Transportation, asking that flight attendants be prioritized as Spirit’s assets are sold to ensure accrued vacation time does not go unpaid.
They also asked that attendants be given a temporary stipend to help them pay bills and extend healthcare coverage to minimize any financial impact to workers.
“Spirit Flight Attendants are not just some asset to be written off in this process,” AFA President Sara Nelson said. “Their lives matter, and the livelihoods of all Spirit workers must come before the profits of shareholders.”
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