Turmoil has gripped the airline industry over the past few months, and it seems the drama continues every week with a new Airline taking over the spotlight. Spirit Airlines is the latest to join the unfriendly foray of bad behavior. The latest incident happened at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. However, while the drama was between the airline and its employees, it rudely played out in the public domain, and in the process, affected thousands of passengers.
Scores of passengers affected by contract dispute
The embarrassing dispute between Spirit Airlines and its pilots heightened the situation overnight, as the airline had to cancel nine commercial flights.
The pilots and their union decided to stage the protest because, reportedly, the airline refused to give them a contract. Passengers who were affected by the cancellation became visibly upset and Florida's Sheriff deputies had to step in and quell the unrest.
Officials with Spirit Airlines said the unrest started when other pilots tried to start an "illegal slowdown." The airline spokesperson told CBS News that some had even intimidated and threatened other pilots because they took flying assignments. Manuel Bojorquez, a CBS News correspondent said the company stated that it was shocked as well as saddened to see the disruptive behavior on videos that were taken inside Fort Lauderdale’s Airport.
Spirit's 300 flight cancellation caused ugly brawl
However, the airline, in a statement this morning, said it had canceled over 150 flights in the past two days. The judicial system is now being asked to intervene in the spat between the airline carrier and the pilots’ union. On Monday night, the atmosphere at the airport was very tense as scores of passengers began a brawl at the over-crowded ticket counter of Spirit Airlines.
And, according to Debbie McGrandy, everybody had somewhere to go, but no one was going anywhere anytime soon. Ms. McGrandy said she had just returned from a cruise vacation and did not envision that she would be bumped from three flights or sleep at the airport just to get home to Detroit.
The ongoing dispute between the airline and its pilots affected 300 flights and caused cancellations for over 20,000 of its customers. However, while Spirit Airlines and the pilots union await a judge’s decision, the airline issued travel vouchers to customers, who were stranded at the Fort Lauderdale Airport.
