Breaking News: Spirit Airlines pilots have gone on strike

[Larry]

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Pilots walked off the job at closely held Spirit Airlines Inc. early this morning after failing to reach a contract agreement in more than three years of negotiations.

The company worked until 5 a.m. to try to reach an agreement with the union, the airline said in a statement today.

“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 the statement.

Spirit began canceling some flights yesterday 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.

Booking Attempts

Miramar, Florida-based Spirit operates about 150 flights a day to 40 cities mainly in the eastern U.S., Caribbean and Mexico. The airline and pilots union negotiated daily in the week leading up to the walkout, including discussions yesterday.

Attempts to book flights for today or tomorrow on Spirit’s website yesterday generated a message saying that no seats were available and that passengers should select another travel date.

Airline spokeswoman Misty Pinson declined to say yesterday whether Spirit arranged for some passengers to travel on JetBlue or AirTran. She wasn’t available for comment today.

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, with lower rates for members of Spirit’s discount fare club.

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

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate1-.html

[mindehankins]

Sad for all the travellers. There was a set of sisters travelling about this time to St. John, after losing their mother this year. Has anyone heard if they're okay?