Days after Spirit Airlines abruptly shut down, leaving employees angry and uncertain about what comes next, there is a small glimmer of hope.
Unions, including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, are stepping in to provide support and resources as workers scramble to figure out their futures.
Vilijia Telycenas, vice president of Local 76 of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said the past few days have been difficult for everyone connected to the airline.
“Today, I’m numb,” Telycenas said. In addition to Telycenas being the vice president of the local union, she’s also a former Spirit flight attendant. She said she was in Houston when she found out her employer shut down.
Early Saturday (May 2) morning, Spirit shut down operations without notice, leaving employees confused, emotional, and suddenly out of work.
“I was bawling, crying tears, like boo-hoo,” said former Spirit flight attendant Marianna Cassar.
Cassar said she would have hit five years with the company at the end of this year.
Those tears for Cassar and many others turned to fear about how to pay bills, cover rent, and manage day-to-day expenses.
But just days after learning the devastating news, some of that fear has eased as the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has started providing support.
Including Zoom updates for affected workers.
On Tuesday, flight attendants learned they would receive their final paycheck, putting some minds at ease.
Union leaders, during the same Zoom call, said there is hope for those looking to stay in the industry.
“Sara Nelson, who’s our international president, she has been working with the other airlines, the main ones, all of them,” Telycenas said. “Just to prioritize our applications.” Those applications would be for them to work as flight attendants at other airlines.
Still, the path forward remains uncertain.
Cassar said getting another job in this industry is hard. She said someone can get a conditional job offer from another airline, mess up during training, and not get hired.
Cassar also said the weeks-long training period for a new job can be unpaid.
It’s why she and others went to Local 4 to apply for unemployment benefits.
Cassar is also raising money to help her former Spirit colleagues cover expenses until they can land back on their feet, or back in the sky.
“It will go for everyone,” Cassar said. “It’ll be split evenly, and if it’s pennies or cents, I’m going to make sure that’s fair and paid to every one of us.”
Telycenas said updates from the union’s international president are expected daily at noon through May 7 as they continue to work to guide Spirit employees through the fallout of the shutdown.