Things are looking quite dire for one major airline these days. Spirit Airlines announced that it is slashing more than 200 jobs.
This comes after the major airline was forced to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. As a result, the organization is trying to reduce costs and overhead. The sad result is people are now losing their jobs as we get into the start of the new year.
"We are executing on plans to rightsize our organization to align with our current fleet size and level of flying, and ultimately optimize our airline," Spirit said in a statement to CNBC. "After reviewing our organizational structure, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate approximately 200 positions from various departments across the airline."
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All of that is corporate speak saying that the major airline is hurting financially right now. The layoffs come after Spirit had to place hundreds of pilots on furlough. Flight attendants didn't escape either with Spirit placing some of the staff on leaves of absence. All of this is to try to reduce spending and costs.
The airline even sold off some of its planes in an effort to inject some cash flow. However, Spirit said these drastic measures were necessary to hit their targeted goal of $80 million in reductions.
"While we will continue to identify additional operational efficiencies, these efforts, along with our recent pilot furloughs, achieve our previously announced target of $80 million in annualized cost reductions," Spirit said. "These decisions are never made lightly, and we are committed to treating all impacted team members with the utmost care and respect."
The major airline hopes to come through bankruptcy by the first quarter of the year. Maybe, like a phoenix, Spirit can rise from the ashes. I know that layoffs are always scary with any company. It's an especially difficult time for those who got laid off from the company. But from the sounds of things, Spirit is taking the drastic steps that it needs to stay afloat.
Right now, the airline is in $3.3 billion in debt. A large portion of this debt will be due within the year, so it's having to tighten its reigns and make some unfortunate sacrifices.
