Spirit Airlines is hiring pilots and flight attendants again in hopes of pandemic recovery

Spirit Airlines is planning to start training new pilots and flight attendants as early as next month as the budget carrier positions itself for a travel rebound after the pandemic slump. “We’ll be a big hirer again,” CEO Ted Christie said Thursday. “Growth in the airline industry is going to be at the leisure end, and we’re the primary server of that guest.” Christie said the airline plans to hire for other positions as well this year. Spirit last trained a class of new pilots in May and new flight attendants last February, a spokesman said. The carrier declined to say how many employees it plans to add this year. It ended last year with 8,756 employees, including 2,497 pilots and 4,028 flight attendants, according to a securities filing. The airline is also calling back some workers who took leaves of absence, programs that helped avoid involuntary furloughs of unionized workers, who make up the bulk of its staff. Some of those employees, like pilots, will also need to meet federally mandated training requirements before returning to the job. “Our training footprint can only handle so much, so it has to be phased,” Christie said of the company’s hiring plans. “Vaccine deployment, lowering total Covid case numbers should lead to more confidence from the traveling public and a loosening of restrictions,” Christie said.<br/>