Spirit Airlines Will Close Its Crew Base At Atlantic City International Airport

Summary

• Spirit Airlines has decided to close its crew base at Atlantic City International Airport (ACY).
• The decision to close the ACY base was confirmed by Spirit Airlines’ Association of Flight Attendants (SPR AFA).
• Liquidity-related challenges and the availability of aircraft due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues have forced the low-cost carrier to readjust its near-term capacity plans.

Spirit Airlines will close its base at Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), according to the Spirit Airlines’ Association of Flight Attendants (SPR AFA), the low-cost carrier’s flight attendant base. Meanwhile, the airline’s pilots, represented by the Spirit Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) at The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), are yet to say anything about the base.

Long-standing rumor

According to a statement issued by SPR AFA, the decision to close the ACY base will be effective September 1, 2024, which coincides with the day that the low-cost carrier will furlough 260 pilots. The union noted that the base’s closure was a rumor that had been circling forever and had finally turned into a reality.

“The truth of the matter is we are just in the dark as all you will be after reading this, but we have scheduled multiple meetings throughout the day to get up to speed with the logistics regarding our base closure.”

SPR AFA added that Ted Christie, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Spirit Airlines, hosted a town hall on April 8, and the union encouraged its flight attendants to attend the event. However, the association also reiterated that the union did not have much information on its hands at the time.

The association scheduled an in-person meeting regarding the base’s closure on April 9, inviting flight attendants to join the meeting at the location, via Zoom, or watch the recording later. However, SPR AFA did not publicly share a meeting agenda.

Furloughing pilots due to capacity cuts

The announcement by SPR AFA followed shortly after Spirit Airlines announced significant changes to its short-term plans, which included the delivery deferrals of Airbus A320neo family aircraft that were scheduled to be delivered between Q2 2025 to the end of 2026 to 2030 and 2031. This excludes two aircraft that are going to be delivered via a direct lease in Q2 and Q3 2025.

Furthermore, the amendment to the carrier’s Airbus A320neo family aircraft order from December 2019 resulted in an adjusted delivery schedule of option aircraft between 2027 and 2029 to 2029 and 2031, with no changes to the order’s composition. As a result, Spirit Airlines hoped to bolster its liquidity by around $340 million in the next two years.

However, the airline has also been impacted by the reduced availability of the Pratt & Whitney PW11000G engines, which have to go through an accelerated removal and inspection program. In its 2024 financial report, Spirit Airlines envisioned that it would have around 40 A320neo family aircraft grounded in December 2024, averaging 25 aircraft on the ground (AOG) throughout the year.

Cutting flights from ACY

Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that Spirit Airlines has reduced the number of flights from ACY in 2024 compared to a year prior. At the same time, with the carrier significantly reducing the presence of Airbus A319ceo aircraft at the airport, its overall capacity is scheduled to grow Year-on-Year (YoY).

The growth is largely driven by additional Airbus A320 and A321 flights originating from ACY, with Spirit Airlines adding 749 and 590 extra flights with the type, respectively. It has removed A319ceo 1,314 flights from ACY while also slashing 250 A320neo flights from its schedule from the airport YoY.

However, the flight schedule can change in due course, considering that the furloughs and the close of the ACY base were announced on April 8. As such, the low-cost carrier’s presence at the airport could shrink further, posing a potential connectivity problem for the airport since Spirit Airlines was the only airline that scheduled flights from ACY in 2024.