Spirit Airlines is offering buyouts to salaried employees

Spirit Airlines is offering voluntary exit packages to salaried employees, the latest cost-cutting measure by the budget carrier as it expects financial pressures to continue next year.

The airline is facing weak off-peak demand and said last month it would have to ground an average of 26 Airbus A320neo planes to inspect engines made by its RTX Pratt & Whitney unit after that company revealed a manufacturing defect in August, straining its capacity. .

“The past few months have been a testament to our resilience and dedication as a company, but we must return to profitability, which will require a series of difficult decisions,” CEO Ted Christie said in a memo to employees on Wednesday, which I reviewed. CNBC.

CNBC reported last month that the airline had already temporarily halted training for new pilots and flight attendants. It has also tightened expense budgets and modified its network, including a plan to move out of Denver.

“Now, we are taking the next difficult step — activating a voluntary early exit program for salaried team members,” Christie wrote in the memo. The company had a similar plan during the height of the Covid pandemic. “Based on the success of that plan, we are implementing a similar set of opportunities to help us right-size our organization with our existing fleet and business constraints.”

JetBlue Airways is trying to acquire Spirit, a deal the Justice Department has already sued to block through a trial scheduled to conclude in the coming days in Boston.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the Spirit Airlines acquisitions earlier Wednesday