Let Us Help You Stem Attrition

Pilots at Spirit AirlinesSAVE
, a merger target for two potential acquirers, offered Wednesday to open contract talks early in an effort to reduce Spirit’s severe pilot attrition.

A chart distributed Wednesday to pilots by the Spirit chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association shows that year-to-date, Spirit has hired 359 pilots and lost 175 to other airlines, primarily American, Delta and United. The carrier has about 3,000 pilots.

In a letter to Spirit CEO Ted Christie, Ryan Muller, chairman of the Spirit ALPA chapter, offered to open contracts on a new contract. The existing contract was signed March 1, 2018 and does not become amendable on March 1, 2023.

Both JetBlue and Frontier are bidding to acquire Spirit. A new contract would lock in the rates that any acquirer would have to pay Spirit pilots and at the same time could help to stem the attrition. Pilots anticipate a favorable response from Christie. Spirit’s media relations office did not respond to an email.

In the letter, Muller writes, “As you are aware, pilot attrition is at an all-time high and threatens to negatively impact airline operations, its project growth and the careers of Spirit pilots.

“We believe this requires our immediate attention, and we are confident that it can be jointly resolved for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders,” he wrote. “I ask that the parties immediately commence (negotiations) that will outline the terms for a potential early Section 6 opener.”

Muller requested a response by June 14 “so we can get the process moving forward on an accelerated schedule.”

In a call with reporters on Tuesday, officers at ALPA national’s headquarters noted that some carriers, such as Spirit, “have retention issues.” Pilot departures lead to “massive bottlenecks of pilots in training,” ALPA said. Whenever a pilot retires or leaves, that triggers a series of upgrades and training sequences for the pilots who remain.

Spirit pilots haven’t taken a position on the carrier’s merger future, but they don’t like what they have seen about the carrier’s plan for their futures. In a letter sent to members last month, Muller said he is concerned that Spirit has no intent to raise pilot wages over the next five years.

The ALPA chart shows that so far this year, 59 pilots have left Spirit for United Airlines, 54 have left for American, 49 have left for Delta, four have left for Southwest, three have left for UPS, one left for Breeze, two left for other carriers, and one left for JetBlue — which is bidding aggressively for Spirit.