Release #08.SPA7
October 8, 2008

Spirit Pilots to Management: Honor the Contract, Respect the Negotiations
Pilots to Picket at Detroit Airport to Protest Management’s Continued Contempt

Detroit—Spirit Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will conduct informational picketing on Thursday at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), one of the main hubs of Spirit Airlines. This demonstration comes after months of fruitless contract negotiations and a multitude of contract violations.

Informational picketing will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 9, at the new North Terminal at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Pilot leaders representing the union will be available for interviews.

“These pilots have been stretched to the breaking point,” said Captain Sean Creed, chair of the Spirit unit of ALPA. “Every week, management finds a new way to worm around our contract, to stall negotiations, or to pick apart long-standing agreements. We simply won’t stand by and have our contract and the collective bargaining process treated with such utter contempt.”

Since August 1, Spirit Airlines has furloughed 115 pilots without any commensurate reduction in flying. Management has violated the contract repeatedly without respecting the collective bargaining process. The pilots have offered to negotiate in good faith, but to no avail. Management continues to put the financial burden on the shoulders of its workforce, without addressing the underlying issues—poor management and unrealistic planning.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union and represents 53,000 pilots at 37 airlines in the U.S. and Canada, including more than 500 pilots at Spirit Airlines. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org.

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ALPA CONTACTS:
Captain Sean Creed—(765) 338-6824
Arthur Luby—(571) 236-3523
Jen Lofquist—(703) 481-4459