MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Major low-cost airline servicing the Caribbean grounded over pay contract

First strike at a US passenger airline in nearly five years

Hundreds of pilots for Spirit Airlines, which services the Caribbean, walked off their jobs early Saturday morning after negotiations over pay broke down. In what industry analysts say is the first strike at a US passenger airline in nearly five years, pilots at the low-cost carrier took industrial action as negotiations reached a stalemate.

Analysts say passengers to and from the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and other islands are being affected. Miramar, Florida-based Spirit operates about 150 flights a day to 40 cities mainly in the eastern U.S., Caribbean and Mexico.

The airline’s pilot association said the two sides had worked through Friday night to reach an agreement, but could not resolve their differences.

“Immediately after 5:00 am the Spirit Pilot Master Executive Council, as authorised by our pilots, called for and instituted a lawful strike against our management,” said Captain Sean Creed, head of the Spirit unit of the pilot union, Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), in a statement.

Creed said the pilots will not return to the cockpit until a “fair and equitable contract is negotiated.”

“We are frustrated and disappointed that our pilots have turned down an over 30% 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 the statement.

Spirit began canceling some flights Friday and advised customers of alternative travel options. The strike is the first at a U.S. passenger airline operating on a regular schedule since 2005, when mechanics walked off the job at Northwest Airlines Corp.

Spirit’s pilots said they are seeking pay on par with low-fare competitors JetBlue Airways Corp., AirTran Holdings Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co.

Spirit, owned by private equity firms Indigo Partners LLC and Oaktree Capital Management LLC, said in April that it would become the first U.S. carrier to charge for carry-on luggage that doesn’t fit beneath a seat. The fee, which takes effect for travel starting in August, is as much as 45 USD, with lower rates for members of Spirit’s discount fare club.

Most major US carriers charge at least 20 USD to check one bag and 30 USD for a second, and permit one carry-on bag and one personal item for free.