Tens of thousands of travelers were left stranded when Spirit Airlines canceled 2,800 flights in ONE WEEK.
But how could such a major airline cancel more than half of their scheduled flights and experience such a massive operational breakdown?
According to them – it’s your fault.
First, they tried to blame it on “bad weather” – then admitted later it was due to technical problems and staffing shortages.
Staffing shortages?
What did Spirit Airlines do with the millions of taxpayer funded bailout money they received last year?
Their lack of planning or properly allocating our money is now our fault?
Ah. Got it.
Spirit also claims passengers kept canceling their flights due to COVID-19 creating unique flight challenges.
And even though Spirit Airlines disrupted travel for more than 10,000 people…
… they still have the audacity to claim the issue isn’t “systemic.”
Right.
Like canceling nearly 60 percent of your flights is just a random blip.
Insider reported:
“We believe the interruption was a singular event driven by an unprecedented confluence of factors and does not reflect systemic issues,” CEO Ted Christie said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
“Over the past few years, we have made investments to be one of the most efficient and reliable airlines in the U.S. industry, and We are committed to taking the steps necessary to make sure we maintain that standard.”
Most reliable and efficient airline?!
Ha!
Leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded because you can’t manage your staff is not “reliable.”
One woman recalled the massive horror she experienced when she was stranded 5 extra days with her children in New York City and forced to pay an extra whopping $1,600 in expenses – all thanks to the “reliable and efficient” Spirit Airlines.
When she finally made it home, she fired off an email to Spirit describing the entire ordeal. Part of her email was posted by USA Today:
“Though this does not capture the entirety of the nightmare, I share all of this because you can’t actually imagine, and I can’t fully put into words, what it’s like to be stranded in a foreign city, a vacation attempt ruined after a bad 18 months (during the pandemic), bleeding money you didn’t choose to spend, missing work, consoling small children in small hotel rooms, worried about an infant, not sleeping, stressed and spending countless hours calling an airline that doesn’t answer and sends one sentence emails ‘Your flight has been cancelled.'”
Yeah, Spirit sounds so reliable.
And let’s be honest – no “efficient” airline loses nearly $50 million bucks like Spirit claims they lost during their operational meltdown.
Even the Department of Transportation is monitoring Spirit and “reminding” them of their obligations to customers under federal law, reports The Points Guy.
What a nightmare.
If you’re planning to book an upcoming flight – stay far away from Spirit Airlines.
And it’s not as if their $50 million operational meltdown was a one-time thing…
… they’ve even hinted they plan on canceling more flights in the future.
While we can’t always control a canceled flight – we can make the decision to avoid airlines who are all but promising to disrupt our travel plans and leave us stranded.
What are your thoughts on Spirit’s massive operational meltdown?
Do you think taxpayers should have bailed out airlines like Spirit?
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