October 16, 2024

Participants for AMFA
Will Abbott – Region II Director
Jason Salazar – Airline Representative
Ernest Harris – Member at Large
Samuel Seham – Legal Counsel

Participants for Spirit Airlines
Robert Jones – Vice President, Labor Relations
Barney Whaley – Regional Director Maintenance
Joe Harmon– Sr. Manager, Maintenance
Kirk Jacobs – Director of Maintenance Control

The AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee (the “Committee”) is providing this update to the Membership at Spirit Airlines (“Spirit”). This is the only officially authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.

The parties held a three-day bargaining session, October 8-10, in Dallas to continue bargaining toward a first collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) for the Spirit group. This was our fourth session in mediation with the National Mediation Board (“Board”).

On Day One, the parties addressed recent news reports covering Spirit’s potential bankruptcy. Whether the airline will enter the bankruptcy process turns, in large part, on future discussions between the airline and its creditors. The outcome of those discussions is uncertain. What is certain is that, under the Railway Labor Act, companies and unions must resolve work issues through collective bargaining. Bankruptcy does not release the parties from that obligation. Both the Spirit negotiators and NMB mediators confirmed that bargaining would continue irrespective of any bankruptcy process. AMFA will continue to negotiate a CBA and will advocate for its members’ interests in the event Spirit enters bankruptcy.

On Day Two, AMFA passed Article 5 – Hours of Service. Still at issue is the pay owed to employees when the Company forces them to work through lunch. While the Company says that it may let these employees leave early, that outcome has little benefit to those who take shuttles to their workstations. Shuttles often come only at the end of the shift.  The Company has also demanded the right to change work schedules at its sole discretion.  Many carriers accept annual or semi-annual schedule bids to protect employees from serious disruptions created by frequent schedule changes.

Spirit presented Article 20 – Management Rights, Article 8 – Training, and Article 9 – Field Service. For both Training and Field Service, a major sticking point remains over how to ensure that employees do not pay out of pocket for transportation and accommodations while traveling on behalf of the Company. AMFA seeks to maximize the extent to which the Company pre-pays travel expenses and limit the use of a reimbursement system.  As an interim measure, the Company has distributed company credit cards to base managers to use in case of issues with Company-arranged travel. AMFA members are advised to contact their managers if, during training or field trips, transportation or accommodation expenses are not pre-paid. The Company has also broadly rejected AMFA’s request to switch to a per diem system for meal expenses, which would eliminate the need to submit receipts, in favor of its current policy. Spirit has stated that, under a per diem system, it would limit payments to $41/day. AMFA disagrees with the Company’s approach to meal expenses and has requested economic data supporting the Company’s per diem cap.

On Day Three, Spirit passed Article 12 – Furlough and Recall. The Company and the Union are close to a tentative agreement on this article.  Bargaining discussions helped to address the remaining concerns. AMFA presented Article 13 – Filling of Vacancies, covering how short- and long-term openings will be filled using a transparent process based on seniority.  The article also addresses pay premiums for employees who temporarily bump up to a higher-paid classification.

The parties have scheduled bargaining for November 12-14 at Spirit’s Fort Lauderdale Headquarters, with a virtual session scheduled for December, and additional bargaining dates reserved in January and February.

Remember – stay engaged, remain informed, and continue to support the Negotiating Committee as that support increases the ability to bargain a CBA your hard work deserves.

Fraternally,
AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee