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June 13, 2010 - Spirit Airlines and the pilots union with the help of the National Mediation Board worked tirelessly through the night until 5:00 AM to reach a fair and equitable agreement. At 5:01 AM Saturday, Spirit pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), went on strike against their company—and will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated. (see Spirit Airlines Pilots Will Strike If No Contract By June 12th)
Pilot negotiators
agreed to extend the strike deadline twice in order to review final
proposals put forth by both parties to keep the airline running. In the
end, both sides could not reach an agreement.
“Spirit pilots are willing to withdraw their services to get the contract they deserve. Immediately after 5:00 a.m., the Spirit Pilot Master Executive Council, as authorized by our pilots, called for and instituted a lawful strike against our management,” announced Captain Sean Creed, head of the Spirit unit of ALPA. |
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As a result of the
pilots’ decision to strike, Spirit Airlines flights have been cancelled
until Wednesday. For those customers whose flights are cancelled,
Spirit is processing a credit for the full amount of the flight, as well
as providing a $100 future flight credit.
“Spirit pilots are
willing to withdraw their services to get the contract they deserve,”
said Captain John Prater, president of ALPA. “Every one of the 53,000
pilots of ALPA stands with them as they go on strike.
The strike comes
after nearly four years of contract negotiations and numerous attempts
by the pilots to find a middle ground with management and avoid a
strike. All Spirit pilots, especially first officers, have been working
at below-market rates for years, and under substandard work rules.
For the past week,
pilot representatives have been meeting with company officials in a
last-ditch effort to reach an agreement. However, after two extensions
that pushed the deadline until early Saturday morning, no agreement was
reached, so the pilots were forced to use the last weapon in their
arsenal and call for a lawful strike.
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