Spirit Airlines Goes into Meltdown As Hundreds of Flights Are Cancelled and Pilots Warned of Civil Unrest at Airport

Spirit Airlines cancelled 269 flights or 35 per cent of its schedule on Monday leaving thousands of passengers stranded with the Florida-based low-cost carrier blaming bad weather and other unspecified “operational challenges” for the meltdown.

A further 132 flights or 17 per cent of its schedule was delayed Monday – up from 165 flights that were cancelled and 341 flights that incurred a delay on Sunday according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

When #spiritairlines leaves you stranded in Puerto Rico with no employees in sight and holds your luggage and money hostage.

We were stuck overnight with no clothes or essentials for our 3 or 1 year olds and are still without answers and searching for flights #Spirit #useless pic.twitter.com/jzKqf9Yuhn

— Tito Arias (@2touchTito) August 2, 2021

Hard to see how #spiritairlines survives after this weekend. My boyfriend and I only got a small taste of the chaos in Orlando and Houston. I feel for the thousands of other passengers who are having a worse experience. pic.twitter.com/QKrOGsuULD

— Alicia Pryor (@PryorAlicia) August 2, 2021

Good morning and Happy Monday to everyone.

Except @SpiritAirlines and this 3.5 hour-long line to find out what alternative flight arrangements can be made to get me back home. #Unreal pic.twitter.com/wp8GDIHMpN

— Aaron Heim (@HeimTime88) August 2, 2021

This is at MCO. Flights cancelled and people suffering in hot airports during a PANDEMIC. Phone line is not answered and only one agent assisting with CANCELLED FLIGHTS!! @SpiritAirlines DO YOUR JOB! pic.twitter.com/kwMwk4eun2

— Aysha Becerra (@love_ur_self130) August 2, 2021

The mass cancellations resulted in tense scenes at Spirit Airlines ticket desks as long lines of passengers built up. Some passengers were incorrectly informed that the cancellations had been prompted by wildcat strike action and some Spirit staff were said to be in hiding for fear of reprisals from angry customers.

An unconfirmed image purporting to be a message sent to pilots heading to San Juan airport in Puerto Rico warned of “civil unrest” within the airport. “Airport not suitable. Divert,” the message continued.

An anonymous poster claimed some passengers had smashed airline ticket computers and had assaulted gate agents. Crew had been urged to change out of uniform to avoid being attacked.

Every Airline has been dealing with severe IROPs. This is not OK. Its more than stress level 10. I never thought I would see "urged to change out of uniform" I understand travelling is stressful but this is not okay. #Bekind
Stay safe Flight FAM. pic.twitter.com/Cp8IV8VzQq

— Matt (@Mattrix8733) August 2, 2021

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) which represents Spirit crew members pointed out that the delays had not been caused by staffers downing tools as some had speculated.

“A few news outlets have incorrectly reported that this may be due to a strike. This is not true. There is no flight attendant strike. Crews are not the issue,” the union said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Spirit explained that the airline had been making proactive cancellations to account for bad weather.

“We’re working around the clock to get back on track in the wake of some travel disruptions over the weekend due to a series of weather and operational challenges,” a statement from the airline explained.

“We needed to make proactive cancellations to some flights across the network, but the majority of flights are still scheduled as planned.”