Spirit Airlines sells planes, calls back furloughed flight attendants

Spirit Airlines, trying to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year, has sold another 20 of its Airbus planes and is bringing flight attendants back from furlough.

The sale of the 20 aircraft, most of which are not in service, comes as Spirit is attempting to stabilize after years of financial struggles that have executives fighting to keep the carrier alive.

“At this time, natural attrition and voluntary actions are providing flexibility needed to right-size our staffing levels for both Pilots and Flight attendants,” Spirit Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis said in a note to employees Wednesday night.

The sales brings Spirit’s fleet to 94 aircraft, and is “consistent with our plan to focus on our strongest routes and the most efficient fleet,” Bendoraitis said. The aircraft will be phased out starting in April, he said.

Deal talks with investment firm Castlelake and fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines haven’t yielded an agreement that would give Spirit a path forward, though the airline could forge a plan on its own.

The Dania Beach, Florida-based carrier is also calling 500 flight attendants back from furlough, just as it gears up for the spring break travel season.

“Fixing this airline is a shared effort,” Bendoraitis said. “There’s a lot in this moment that crews can’t control, but we do need you to continue giving us the foundation for a strong operation.”

Spirit has slashed its network and fleet and furloughed more than 1,300 flight attendants and hundreds of pilots to save cash.

“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 Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the union for Spirit flight attendants, said in a message to members Wednesday. “The company’s goal in recalling Flight Attendants is to ease some of the operational issues since the furloughs.”