LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nearly 400 Las Vegas flight attendants will soon be looking for work.
Last week, Spirit Airlines filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, also known as DETR.
According to the notice, 393 employees, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, will be furloughed from Harry Reid International Airport on Dec. 1 or during the 14-day period commencing on that date.
"This furlough is expected to be temporary; however, we are unsure as to the duration," company officials wrote in part.
This is not surprising news because earlier this month, we told you that Spirit Airlines was going to furlough 1,800 flight attendants nationwide, which is about a third of the flight attendants that work for the company.
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Flight attendants aren't the only ones being affected.
Spirit Airlines previously announced that 270 pilots were also being furloughed, beginning Nov. 1. It's unclear how many of those pilots were based out of Harry Reid International Airport.
This week, Spirit Airlines is also ending services to 11 cities and eight of those cities have flights to and from Las Vegas. Company officials sent us a statement earlier this month.
"As part of our efforts to transform our business and position Spirit for long-term success, we are adjusting our network to focus on our strongest performing markets. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue service at Albuquerque (ABQ), Birmingham (BHM), Boise (BOI), Chattanooga (CHA), Columbia (CAE), Oakland (OAK), Portland (PDX), Sacramento (SMF), Salt Lake City (SLC), San Diego (SAN) and San Jose (SJC), effective the week of Oct. 2"
Harry Reid International Airport officials previously told Channel 13 that other airlines will have services to and from Las Vegas and will be able to handle extra visitor volume.
For example, I spoke with representatives from United Airlines. They told me they are adding one additional daily roundtrip flight between:
- Houston and Las Vegas
- Chicago and Las Vegas
- Los Angeles and Las Vegas
"If Spirit suddenly goes out of business, it will be incredibly disruptive," Patrick Quayle, United's senior vice president of Global Network Planning and Alliances, told me. "So we're adding these flights to give their customers other options if they want or need them."
He said that with the new flights, there will be 43 flights per day to Las Vegas.
All of these changes are because Spirit Airlines is currently involved in bankruptcy proceedings. Part of the issue is major repairs, which will take a long time to complete.
"Spirit has an issue with their engines and a large amount of their fleet is on the ground right now," said Joel Middleton, Managing Director - Facilities, Clark County Department of Aviation. "That whole process takes 300 days. They have 50 planes on the ground right now and that has impacted us as the second largest station for Spirit. I don't want to minimize the value of Spirit. They do bring thousands of people to the destination."
So how are things going for Spirit Airlines?
During a Tuesday hearing at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, company officials said they're making progress on their Chapter 11 restructuring.
Company officials said they have financing in place of up to $475 million from existing bondholders to support normal business operations during the restructuring process. The company also has access to $120 million of liquidity and they've negotiated an agreement with AerCap Ireland Limited to reject leases on 27 aircraft, which will help them reduce operating costs.
That is currently subject to court approval and the next hearing to discuss the matter is scheduled for Oct. 10.
The company is also rejecting 12 airport leases and 19 ground handling agreements in order to reduce costs as well as working with principal labor unions to identify further costs savings within collective bargaining agreements.
"These are significant steps forward in a short period of time to build a stronger Spirit and secure a future with high-value travel options for American consumers," Dave Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. "While there's more work to be done, we're grateful to our stakeholders who have stepped up to support us during the restructuring. We remain focused on delivering a safe, reliable operation, and I'm incredibly proud of our Team Members for continuing to rise to the occasion and take great care of our guests."
You can learn more about the company's restructuring efforts and ongoing court hearings here.