Fellow Pilots:

At the close of business on Friday, February 22, Spirit management issued a reduction bid for the DTW Domicile.

This came as a surprise to your MEC leadership, as we were never directly contacted or consulted by members of Flight Ops Management about this possibility. While this is regrettable, and will no doubt impact the lives of many pilots and their families to a great degree, we must take stock of the fact Spirit management has the sole discretion as to where domiciles are located and how they are staffed.

Your MEC conservatively estimates that the cost to the Company of involuntary displacements, secondary displacements, and possible additional training costs associated with those that choose to downgrade as a result of this displacement will exceed $150,000, at a minimum. In fact, the costs could be much higher.

We can only assume that the metrics of Spirit’s business model make the involuntary displacements and associated training costs the most cost-effective business decision.

Your MEC will attempt to engage with management to get more information about the reduction and will pass that information on to you as soon as it is available. Please stay tuned.