Former Spirit Workers Sue Over 17,000 Layoffs, Seeking 60 Days of WARN Act Pay

9 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · May 14

A proposed class action filed May 12 in federal court says Spirit cut roughly 17,000 jobs on May 2 with no advance warning when it shut down operations immediately.
The complaint says employees learned of the closure in a same-day email, then lost jobs, benefits and system access at once; many allegedly still have not received final pay or unused vacation and sick time.
Former workers are seeking damages equal to 60 days of wages and benefits under the WARN Act and want the court to certify a class covering all affected employees.
Spirit said on May 2 that soaring oil prices and other business pressures had sharply worsened its outlook, after talks on a $500 million rescue deal with the federal government stalled.
The airline, which ended its 33-year run as an ultra-low-cost carrier and canceled all flights, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Did Spirit Airlines illegally deceive 17,000 workers, or was its sudden collapse just bad luck?

Is Spirit's failure a sign that the entire low-cost airline model is fundamentally broken?

With a major budget airline gone, will your next flight ticket cost significantly more?