Lack of Spirit: Fewer Flight Attendants Means More Delays, Cancellations

Fort Lauderdale passengers upset as more flights grounded

Just a day after Spirit Airlines settled a salary dispute with their pilots, it looks like the budget-conscious carrier is having issues with its flight attendants.

At least one early morning flight out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport was canceled and others have been delayed Friday after the airline reportedly didn't have enough flight attendants to get planes off the ground.

The reason, according to the Association of Flight Attendants, is that Spirit management didn't notify them that they'd be needed back at work Friday.

"At this time, we cannot confirm that every flight attendant was even notified that they are being recalled," AFA rep Corey Caldwell said in a statement.  "Management was the one who decided to furlough the over 600 flight attendants and they are responsible for letting them know that the furlough is over.

"AFA is doing everything we can to let all the flight attendants know, but any consequences that result from this furlough are on the shoulder of Spirit management since they were the ones who chose to lay everyone off."

Spirit said they were still trying to work out the kinks of restoring service after the pilots strike that lasted nearly five days.

"We are thrilled to be flying again today! We are experiencing some delays as we return to service," said Spirit spokesperson Misty Pinson. "We apologize for this inconvenience, but appreciate our customers understanding as we gear up to full operations."

Passengers at Fort Lauderdale Airport were upset over the latest Spirit issues.

"Here we go again," said an angry Edmund Alves, who showed up for a 10:40 a.m. flight to the Bahamas only to learn that it had been canceled about an hour before takeoff. "Get your act together Spirit."

Flier Lee Hood showed up early to catch her 7 a.m. flight to Boston, only to learn that she wasn't going anywhere soon.

Hood said she was told there weren't enough flight attendants and that passengers couldn't be put on the plane until more showed up. She said that by 8:15, Spirit had given passengers food vouchers while they waited. By 9:30 one flight attendant was there, but they were still waiting on two more.

Passengers on the 10:40 flight to the Bahamas were asked to check back at 4 p.m. to see if there would be flight attendants available to get the flight out.

Spirit had been back up and running Thursday afternoon after a pilots strike had forced the Miramar-based carrier to cancel all flights for five days.

Nine flights left Fort Lauderdale Thursday, and full service was expected to resume Friday.

On Wednesday, Spirit announced that it would be furloughing its flight attendants throughout the strike.

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