Key facts
- Spirit Airlines collapsed into bankruptcy in early May.
- Thousands of employees are seeking new employment in the airline industry.
- Rehired pilots and flight attendants may lose seniority and start at lower pay scales.
- Former Spirit workers filed a class-action lawsuit alleging improper layoff notice.
- Major airlines are receiving applications from displaced Spirit employees, but hiring remains limited.
Spirit Airlines' collapse into bankruptcy in early May has left thousands of its employees facing career uncertainty and job searches. Travis Arcamone, a former Spirit flight attendant, is now working as a car salesman while still seeking to return to the skies. The airline industry's hiring processes, which often occur annually and are geared towards peak seasons, mean that displaced Spirit workers may face months of unemployment. Rehired employees often lose seniority and must start at the bottom of the pay scale, forfeiting flexibility in schedules and base locations. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, estimates that several hundred of Spirit's 3,500 flight attendants could take four to five months to find new employment. Approximately 1,800 pilots were also employed by Spirit at the time of its closure. A class-action lawsuit has been filed by former Spirit workers alleging the carrier failed to provide adequate layoff notice, seeking 60 days of pay and benefits for about 17,000 employees. Major airlines like United, Delta, American, Southwest, Frontier, and JetBlue are considering applications from Spirit employees, but hiring remains constrained by existing plans and reduced training class sizes. While pilots may have a slightly easier path to rehiring due to long-term demand and upcoming retirements, they too face significant pay cuts unless they secure direct-entry captain roles.