A Spirit Airlines jet arrives to land at McCarran International Airport on May 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images
Spirit Airlines is planning to start training new pilots and flight attendants as early as next month, when the airline positions itself for a recovery in travel after the pandemic crashes.
“We will be a great contractor again,” said CEO Ted Christie on Thursday. “The growth in the civil aviation sector will be in the leisure segment and we are the main servant of this guest.”
Christie said the airline plans to hire for other positions this year as well. Spirit last trained a class of new pilots in May and new flight attendants last February, a spokesman said.
The operator declined to say how many employees it plans to add this year. It ended last year with 8,756 employees, including 2,497 pilots and 4,028 flight attendants, according to a title file.
The airline is also calling on some departed workers, programs that have helped prevent unintentional layoffs for unionized workers, who make up the bulk of its staff. Some of these employees, such as pilots, will also need to meet the training requirements required by the federal government before returning to work.
“Our training footprint can only handle so much, so it has to be phased,” said Christie of the company’s hiring plans.
Spirit lost $ 428.7 million in 2020, its first annual net loss since at least 2007, according to data from FactSet. American airlines together lost more than $ 34 billion last year because of the pandemic, which executives call the worst crisis in the industry.
Spirit, like others, now hopes that the launch of vaccines will help spur a revival in air travel. The airline expects to return to 2019 capacity levels by mid-year, he said.
“The rollout of vaccines, reducing Covid’s total number of cases, should lead to more confidence for the traveling public and a loosening of restrictions,” said Christie.
Recovery will take time.
Spirit and other airlines had weaker than expected demand, as Covid’s cases increased late last year and early 2021, as well as a slow start in vaccine distribution. New travel restrictions, such as Covid’s test requirements for international flights to the U.S., also hampered reservations.
Helane Becker, airline analyst at Cowen & Co., predicted Spirit’s revenue in the first quarter will fall 46% compared to pre-pandemic levels and estimated a higher loss per share in 2021 than previously expected, partly due the higher costs associated with “preparing operations for growth during the recovery.”
Spirit’s shares fell more than 8% on Thursday to $ 30.01, but the share price is still up almost 23% this year, more than most U.S. airlines.
Last Thursday, the House’s Financial Services Committee put forward a $ 14 billion proposal in additional federal payroll support for airlines, which already received $ 40 billion from the government during the pandemic to pay workers . The new round of aid would require airlines to retain employees until September 30 and would be part of the Biden government’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package.
Labor unions, American Airlines and United Airlines supported another round of aid, as the threat of new licenses approaches 27,000 employees when the current package ends after March 31.
When asked whether he supports additional aid, even if the airline is hiring, Christie said: “Our industry needs to be fair in all cases, so there can be no selective aid. As long as the government decides to extend the existing program or modify it, so I think that all airlines are expected to benefit. “