Spirit Airlines plans to lay off at least 260 pilots by September 2025.
The airline cites to scale down its workforce to match a downsized schedule.
The move comes amid broader cost-cutting efforts as Spirit battles financial turbulence.
Spirit Airlines, the Florida-based ultra-low-cost carrier, announced it will lay off more than 260 pilots by early November, resulting in one of the largest workforce reductions among U.S. airline pilots in recent years. The move is in response to mounting financial pressures on the airline.
According to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters, Spirit said it plans to furlough pilots effective November 1, 2025.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Spirit’s pilot union, confirmed the planned layoffs in a statement Monday, noting the union is “deeply disappointed” and will continue to work with the company to mitigate the number of job losses through voluntary measures.
"Spirit continues to shrink, and with it, the value of pilot seniority and Spirit careers continues to erode," Captain Ryan Muller, chairman of the Spirit unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement.
Financial headwinds
The layoffs come at a time of prolonged financial challenges for Spirit Airlines. The company has posted several consecutive quarterly losses and is facing liquidity concerns after a federal judge blocked its proposed merger with JetBlue Airways earlier this year.
Some industry analysts say the carrier’s ultra-low-cost business model is under increasing strain due to higher labor and fuel costs, as well as changing consumer behavior in the post-pandemic era.
The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2024 and has since successfully completed its restructuring and emerged from bankruptcy.
The airline has already grounded some aircraft and reduced its schedule in underperforming markets, including cuts to routes in the Caribbean and Latin America. The layoffs of flight crew suggest these reductions are not temporary, but part of a broader effort to shrink operations.