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Spirit Airlines pilot strike strands thousands
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AP – Laurie Holmes of Grand Rapids, Michigan, right, talks with a Spirit Airlines employee at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood …
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By JOSHUA FREED and TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writers Joshua Freed And Travis Reed, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 1 min ago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A strike by
Spirit Airlines pilots shut down the discount carrier on Saturday, stranding thousands of travelers.
Spirit carries roughly 1 percent of U.S. [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]air [COLOR=#366388! important]passengers[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], mostly between the eastern U.S. and the Caribbean and Latin America. It's a small carrier but its shutdown was causing major problems.
Spirit's tickets aren't good on other carriers. The
airline said it was refunding fares for Saturday flights plus a $100 credit toward [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]future [COLOR=#366388! important]flights[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. It didn't immediately announce plans for its Sunday flights.
On Saturday, new, same-day tickets on other
airlines were at least two- to three times the fares originally booked on Spirit.
That was out of the question for Junior Elliott, a 67-year-old mason from St. Ann's parish in
Jamaica, who was stranded in Fort Lauderdale while traveling to New York for a cousin's funeral.
Elliott was unable to buy new tickets until his fare was refunded to his
debit card. He had no cell phone, no U.S. currency, and nowhere to sleep but the terminal's seats.
"It's bad now, man," Elliott said. "I can't even buy a cup of coffee."
From Fort Lauderdale, Spirit is the only airline to 14 international cities and five U.S. destinations, said Greg Meyer, the spokesman for
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]International [COLOR=#366388! important]Airport[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. Spirit carries more than 16,000 passengers a day, many of them through that hub. Around the country Spirit runs roughly 150 flights per day.
The carrier and its pilots have been in negotiations for more than three years. [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]Spirit [COLOR=#366388! important]pilots[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] have said their pay lags competitors such as
AirTran Airways and JetBlue.
Pilots could have walked out as early as midnight Friday, but kept talking under the guidance of the
[COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]National [COLOR=#366388! important]Mediation [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388! important]Board[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] in Washington until about 5 a.m. EDT. The pilot's union Fort Lauderdale local said a loaded flight out of Orlando, Fla., had to deplane because the strike started just before takeoff.
"In the end, both sides could not reach an agreement," said Sean Creed, a Spirit captain and the head of the airline's branch of the
Air Line Pilots Association, in a statement on the [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]union's [COLOR=#366388! important]website[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
He said pilots "will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated."
The privately-held airline based in Miramar, Fla. has about 440 active pilots.
The company said it offered to raise
[COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]pilot [COLOR=#366388! important]pay[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] by 30 percent over five years. It would have included work rule changes but would have retained a four-day break between every pilot trip, something the company said no other [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]ALPA[/COLOR][/COLOR] contract has. The offer also included a $3,000 signing bonus and a larger retirement plan match.
Air carrier strikes are rare. The last one at a
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AP – Laurie Holmes of Grand Rapids, Michigan, right, talks with a Spirit Airlines employee at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood … 
Play Video Airlines Video:Spirit Airlines pilots go on strike AP
Play Video Airlines Video:Flights Canceled As Spirit Pilots' Strike Looms CBS4 Miami
By JOSHUA FREED and TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writers Joshua Freed And Travis Reed, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 1 min ago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A strike by
Spirit Airlines pilots shut down the discount carrier on Saturday, stranding thousands of travelers.
Spirit carries roughly 1 percent of U.S. [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]air [COLOR=#366388! important]passengers[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], mostly between the eastern U.S. and the Caribbean and Latin America. It's a small carrier but its shutdown was causing major problems.
Spirit's tickets aren't good on other carriers. The
airline said it was refunding fares for Saturday flights plus a $100 credit toward [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]future [COLOR=#366388! important]flights[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. It didn't immediately announce plans for its Sunday flights.
On Saturday, new, same-day tickets on other
airlines were at least two- to three times the fares originally booked on Spirit.
That was out of the question for Junior Elliott, a 67-year-old mason from St. Ann's parish in
Jamaica, who was stranded in Fort Lauderdale while traveling to New York for a cousin's funeral.
Elliott was unable to buy new tickets until his fare was refunded to his
debit card. He had no cell phone, no U.S. currency, and nowhere to sleep but the terminal's seats.
"It's bad now, man," Elliott said. "I can't even buy a cup of coffee."
From Fort Lauderdale, Spirit is the only airline to 14 international cities and five U.S. destinations, said Greg Meyer, the spokesman for
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]International [COLOR=#366388! important]Airport[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. Spirit carries more than 16,000 passengers a day, many of them through that hub. Around the country Spirit runs roughly 150 flights per day.
The carrier and its pilots have been in negotiations for more than three years. [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]Spirit [COLOR=#366388! important]pilots[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] have said their pay lags competitors such as
AirTran Airways and JetBlue.
Pilots could have walked out as early as midnight Friday, but kept talking under the guidance of the
[COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]National [COLOR=#366388! important]Mediation [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388! important]Board[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] in Washington until about 5 a.m. EDT. The pilot's union Fort Lauderdale local said a loaded flight out of Orlando, Fla., had to deplane because the strike started just before takeoff.
"In the end, both sides could not reach an agreement," said Sean Creed, a Spirit captain and the head of the airline's branch of the
Air Line Pilots Association, in a statement on the [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]union's [COLOR=#366388! important]website[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
He said pilots "will not return to the cockpit until a fair and equitable contract is negotiated."
The privately-held airline based in Miramar, Fla. has about 440 active pilots.
The company said it offered to raise
[COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]pilot [COLOR=#366388! important]pay[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] by 30 percent over five years. It would have included work rule changes but would have retained a four-day break between every pilot trip, something the company said no other [COLOR=#366388! important][COLOR=#366388! important]ALPA[/COLOR][/COLOR] contract has. The offer also included a $3,000 signing bonus and a larger retirement plan match.
Air carrier strikes are rare. The last one at a