Spirit Airlines CEO: It’s been a challenging month

CNBC Television published this video item, entitled “Spirit Airlines CEO: It’s been a challenging month” – below is their description.

Over 300,000 Spirit Airlines passengers have had flights cancelled in the last week, during the peak of summer vacation season. Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie blames staffing shortages, poor weather and logistical errors.

‘This happens in airlines sometimes and you usually move your way through it seamlessly and no one notices,’ but there was such a pileup of issues this month that cancellations were unavoidable, Christie says. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

The causes of Spirit Airlines’ massive flight cancellations that derailed the summer vacations of tens of thousands of customers this week have been brewing for more than a month, CEO Ted Christie said.

A combination of flight delays throughout July, staffing shortages, technology problems and a surge in travel that has taken most airline executives by surprise culminated with more than 2,000 flights canceled since the weekend, some days accounting for more than half of Spirit’s schedule.

And trouble isn’t over for travelers. Christie said the carrier needs to cancel additional flights, although he said operations are improving and will return to normal by the middle of next week.

More than 300 flights, more than a third of Spirit’s schedule, were canceled on Friday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

“There’s definitely some angry people,” Christie told reporters Thursday night. “Right now, all I can say is we’re very sorry for what happened.”

The chaos enraged stranded customers at airports and sparked furious messages online, presenting Christie with one of his biggest tests since he became CEO on New Year’s Day 2019.

“This is a gut punch to everyone,” Christie said.

Chronic delays throughout July snowballed, leading to staffing shortages as crews timed out, reaching the maximum time they could legally work each day, he said. It became dramatically worse over the weekend and in the days that followed.

“We couldn’t get in front of it,” Christie said. He estimated that “tens or hundreds of thousands” of customers were affected by Spirit’s disruptions and said it is too early to estimate financial impact to the company.

On Thursday alone Spirit canceled 450 flights, 56% of its operation.

Spirit, unlike large network airlines, does not have so-called interline agreements, which allow a carrier to book its passengers on another airline during severe disruptions.

A sharp rebound in summer travel has created headaches for summer travelers as airlines and their contractors faced staffing shortages coupled with the usual disruptive summer storms. American Airlines had a cascade of cancellations earlier this week triggered by severe thunderstorms that hit its Dallas/Fort Worth International Hub and subsequent staffing shortages.

Miramar, Florida-based Spirit has improved its reliability in recent years and in 2017, it turned to Walt Disney’s leadership and professional training subsidiary, the Disney Institute, to help improve customer service.

“We are going to do everything we can to earn back the confidence of our guests and the traveling public. We believe we can do that,” Christie said on the call Thursday. He said the airline is giving affected customers cash refunds.

In hindsight, Spirit should have canceled more flights earlier to give it time to recalibrate, Christie said. Instead the airline tried to maintain flights to cater to large numbers of customers, many of them flying for the first time since the pandemic began.

» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision

» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC

» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic

Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.

The News with Shepard Smith is CNBC’s daily news podcast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day’s most important stories. Available to listen by 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT daily beginning September 30: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/the-news-with-shepard-smith-podcast.html?__source=youtube%7Cshepsmith%7Cpodcast

Connect with CNBC News Online

Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/

Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC

Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC

Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC

Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC

https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-credit-cards/

#CNBC

#CNBCTV

CNBC Television YouTube Channel

Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.


About This Source - CNBC Television

CNBC is an American pay television business news channel, which primarily carries business day coverage of U.S. and international financial markets. Following the end of the business day and on non-trading days, CNBC primarily carries financial and business-themed documentaries and reality shows.

As of February 2015, CNBC is available to approximately 93,623,000 pay television households (80.4% of households with television) in the United States.

Recent from CNBC Television:

The narrative behind big tech is 'very strong', they are must own stocks, says laffer tengler ceo 1

The narrative behind Big Tech is ‘very strong’, they are must own stocks, says Laffer Tengler CEO

The Biden campaign can’t fix messaging around age, says Mick Mulvaney

Last Call panel weighs in on Sports Illustrated laying off entire staff

In This Story: American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the world’s largest airline when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenger mile.

Parent company American Airlines Group
Traded as Nasdaq: AAL

4 Recent Items: American Airlines

Lightning Round: I’m not a big fan of the airline stocks, says Jim Cramer

Plane slides off snowy taxiway in Rochester, New York

The Business Of Trash | CNBC Marathon

Air Canada ranks last in on-time flights among North American airlines

In This Story: Dallas

Dallas, a modern metropolis in north Texas, is a commercial and cultural hub of the region. Downtown’s Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza commemorates the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. In the Arts District, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Crow Collection of Asian Art cover thousands of years of art. The sleek Nasher Sculpture Center showcases contemporary sculpture.

2 Recent Items: Dallas

Would you rather have Belichick or Harbaugh? | The Will Cain Show

Will McCarthy bring the Cowboys CLOSER to a CHAMPIONSHIP + Can the Texans UPSET the Ravens? | Get Up

In This Story: Disney

The Walt Disney Company, DIS (NYSE), is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.

4 Recent Items: Disney

Marvel Studios’ The Marvels | Visual Effects | Behind the Scenes

Spectacular Spider-Men #1 | Official Trailer | Marvel Comics

Lizzie McGuire Reboot Writer Exposes Plots Details, Including a HOOKUP!

Selena Gomez Confirms Wizards of Waverly Place RETURN!

In This Story: Florida

Florida is the southeasternmost U.S. state, with the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. It has hundreds of miles of beaches. The city of Miami is known for its Latin-American cultural influences and notable arts scene, as well as its nightlife, especially in upscale South Beach. Orlando is famed for theme parks, including Walt Disney World.

2 Recent Items: Florida

Flames shoot out of Boeing cargo plane in sky

Jackie is joined by Carter Verhaeghe and Renata Fast in this week’s episode

In This Story: Podcast

A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download to a personal device for easy listening.

3 Recent Items: Podcast

Would you rather have Belichick or Harbaugh? | The Will Cain Show

Who’s the most clinical? Callum Wilson or Michail Antonio? | Footballer’s Football Podcast

Inside story of Perth’s epic BBL|12 Final run chase | KFC BBL

Leave a Comment

We don't require your email address, or your name, for anyone to leave a comment. If you do add an email address, you may be notified if there are replies to your comment - we won't use it for any other purpose. Please make respectful comments, which add value, and avoid personal attacks on others. Links are not allowed in comments - 99% of spam comments, attempt to post links. Please describe where people may find additional information - for example "visit the UN website" or "search Google for..." rather than posting a link. Comments failing to adhere to these guidelines will not be published.