By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Spirit Airlines said on Friday it has scrapped plans to furlough up to 365 pilots in the first quarter next year and scaled back a downgrade of captains, which were part of restructuring efforts after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August.
The ultra-low-cost carrier did not state a reason for the cancellation but the pilots’ union said management revised its staffing model after discussions over attrition assumptions.
“We are no longer moving forward with the previously announced furlough,” a company spokesperson said. The number of captain downgrades to first officer has been reduced to 25 from 170, it added.
Spirit said it currently has about 2,400 pilots.
Earlier this year, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 for a second time as it grappled with dwindling cash reserves and mounting losses. To cut costs, the airline has announced a series of furloughs of its pilots and flight attendants, as well as plans to shrink its fleet. The latest furloughs and downgrades were announced in October.
The Air Line Pilots Association said assumptions behind the carrier’s October announcement were no longer accurate and its attrition model had become outdated.
“The business case supporting large-scale furloughs simply did not align with current data,” the association said in an emailed response to Reuters queries.
Spirit did not respond to a request for comment about staffing attrition levels.
The airline previously furloughed about 600 pilots as part of its restructuring. The pilots association said in November that the union agreed to Spirit’s plans to reduce the hourly pay of its pilots by 8% and cut its retirement account contributions by half.
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Edmund Klamann)
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