Spirit to reduce flight schedule in a bid to improve reliability: Travel Weekly

In order to improve its reliability, Spirit Airlines has reduced its summer flight schedule by 5% to 7%.

The FAA has told us that we can expect these challenges to continue this summer until they can adjust staffing, according to Ted Christie.

The carrier made schedule adjustments in the second half of the month, which resulted in a decrease in the number of canceled flights.

The company plans to fly 10% more capacity this quarter than it did in the second quarter. On a relative basis, that is down from the first quarter, when it flew 19.2% more capacity than it did three years earlier. In the third quarter, the carrier expects to offer more flights and capacity than it did in the first three quarters of the year.

The FAA, a dozen airlines and other aviation industry stakeholders met this week to discuss Florida airspace constraints.

Since at least the fall, airline operations have been disrupted due to a combination of growing airline and private aviation operations, FAA staffing shortages and increased space launches.

The FAA told airlines at the meeting that it would immediately increase the number of authorized staff at its Jacksonville air traffic control center.

The airline is taking other steps to make air traffic control disruptions more manageable, including opening more aircraft bases, having more spare planes at the ready, and increasing its use of out-and-back flying.

Christie said that flying out-and-back schedules reduces the number of stations that are impacted by a delay in Florida. When flying point-to-point-to-point schedules, there is a delay in one region that affects the network.

The first quarter net losses were $194.7 million. The airline expects to return to profitability in the second half of the year.