Originally Posted by
FlyGuy2002
Southwest was like second world in cancellations July 4 weekend? Remember that ? Southwest had a meltdown few years ago where unaccompanied minors were having to stay at hotels with flight attendants. delta in 2015 I Belive had a computer glitch that grounded the entire airline. Basically. I flew into atl at and a total of like 4 airplanes were moving. Delta was essentially grounded. It happens. This is hugely embarrassing and sad, But eventually this will get worked out and the black eye will heal… it always does. It’s just harder for Nk because the reputation is fragile to say the least. We will be just fine. And if this scares you away from coming here then do us all a favor and don’t
Not sure you can really compare Southwest to Spirit. One is significantly better than the other in all metrics. Southwest has a huge base under it to correct issues and get back on schedule.
The real problem is that Spirit doesn't have the infrastructure and systems to really come back from IROPS. There aren't enough employees. Gate agents, ticket agents, bag handlers, etc... When they all stop showing up for work, it is very difficult to overcome. Not to mention that every other airline out there right now will hire them tomorrow for more money and better benefits. Spirit can't put their passengers on someone else's airplane so each day the backlog increases, and they don't have the staff or airplanes to add more flights. All of the "big boys" do have these as an option.
The real issue going forward will be pilot staffing. There are more than 700 Spirit pilots with active and updated applications at the legacy carriers. Once all of the "big boys" start hiring, pilots will be leaving Spirit at a far greater rate than those coming in the door. It will take A LOT to try to attract enough halfway decent pilots to come to Spirit. What happens when 200 captains from Spirit all leave in a single month for a better job?
Spirit may be able to stay the same size (maybe...), but there will certainly not be any growth. Look at what is happening at Atlas. It will be worse at Spirit.