Spirit Airlines has announced it is recalling 500 of its furloughed flight attendants, following recent approval for the sale of 20 aircraft from its fleet. In December, the airline placed about 1,800 flight attendants on furlough, most of them involuntarily, while approximately 500 volunteered for furlough.
The decision to recall a significant number of staff comes after Spirit faced ongoing operational challenges and staffing shortages. Since the furloughs began, the airline has experienced frequent cancellations—up to 60 flights per day in recent weeks—mainly due to a lack of available flight attendants. The company admitted that its reserve pool was “fully depleted,” prompting emergency staffing measures.
Recall notices have been sent out this week. Flight attendants are given a 15-day window to return to work but are encouraged to come back sooner if possible. The process will prioritize those with greater seniority. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA commented:
“This is good news for 500 Flight Attendants and their families and critical to those of us on the line that have faced a grueling operation over the last two months. The company’s goal in recalling Flight Attendants is to ease some of the operational issues since the furloughs.”
Spirit is currently navigating its second bankruptcy process within two years. As part of efforts to improve its financial stability, Spirit has agreed on a deal to sell 20 aircraft—13 Airbus A320-200s and seven Airbus A321-200s—for approximately $530 million, pending bankruptcy court approval. Most of these planes are not currently in service as they were previously marked for sale; ch-aviation data shows about 15 aircraft listed as parked.
The company states that this sale will not significantly disrupt operations due to most planes already being inactive. The first bidder in this transaction is CSDS Asset Management, and sales are expected to begin in April 2026 if approved by the court.
Since filing for bankruptcy in 2024, Spirit has undertaken major restructuring efforts including rejecting many aircraft leases and reducing fleet size further. After these changes, Spirit will own fewer than 30 planes and continue leasing another 66 jets for operations.
Last month saw discussions between Spirit and investment firm Castlelake regarding a potential takeover; however, no significant progress has been reported so far and such an acquisition could result in Spirit’s assets being sold off separately.
Earlier plans by Spirit to furlough hundreds more pilots were reversed after many had already left for jobs at other airlines. While bringing back some flight attendants and selling unused aircraft may help stabilize finances temporarily, deeper structural issues remain unresolved.
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