This article was posted on July, 8th 2008, But I think Spirit furloughed Aug. 1st. What a bunch of crapola! Good luck guys!
SPIRIT AIRLINES SETS LOFTY EXPANSION GOALS
Posted: July 8th, 2008 05:26 PM EDT
Tom Stieghorst Staff WriterSun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
Miramar-based Spirit Airlines plans to add about 400 jobs this year in South Florida and expand flights at Fort Lauderdale by 40 percent, airline officials said Friday.
In a newly revised growth plan, Spirit said it expects to offer 70 flights a day from Fort Lauderdale by mid-summer, up from 34 daily flights currently and 50 last summer.
In the first 10 months of 2007, Spirit grew its passenger count at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by 60.6 percent and became the leading air provider with about 15.1 percent of the market. "It's difficult to keep growing at that rate," said Donald Schenk, president of Airline Capital Associates, a New York consulting firm.
It is even tougher in a weak economy.
"Given what I see and read about the ability of consumers to spend this year, that's going to be an interesting challenge for them," Schenk said.
The plan bucks the trend at other airlines which have recently lowered their planned capacity increases. JetBlue Airways said recently it will grow by 6 to 9 percent this year, down from double digits forecast previously. Southwest Airlines said its systemwide growth will be 5 percent at most, down from a previous forecast of 7.5 percent.
Both airlines cited higher fuel costs and doubts about the economy for the cutbacks.
Spirit has grown increasingly bullish on Fort Lauderdale, and is responding to consumer demand for flights, spokeswoman Misty Pinson said. "We really feel strongly Fort Lauderdale is the market to be in," she said.
Systemwide, Spirit plans to grow at least 10 percent in 2008, Pinson said.
Last year's growth spurt also came with a spike in complaints about long lines at the airport, lost baggage, missed flights and customer service headaches.
Consumers filed 58 complaints about Spirit with the U.S. Department of Transportation in November compared with 5 in November, 2006.
Pinson said one big problem from last summer, the presence of bulky baggage screening machinery in its passenger processing area in Terminal 4 at the airport, has been resolved with the relocation of the machines in November. Also, Spirit flights will be less clustered than last year. "More use of off-peak times will make for a more efficient operation," she said.
In West Palm Beach, where Spirit operates a handful of flights in the winter, specific growth plans have not been set for this year, Pinson said.
Spirit's route network includes 37 cities and it plans to add Panama City, Panama, on Jan. 31 when it launches nonstop Fort Lauderdale service.
Pinson said that by the end of 2008, Spirit plans to fly to 44 cities from Fort Lauderdale, including 28 in the Caribbean and Latin America. Spirit employs about 1,300 people in South Florida, and will hire more airport staff, flight crews and other workers as it ramps up for summer, she said.
Tom Stieghorst can be reached at
[email protected] or at 305-810-5008.