Spirit Airlines flying, but contract still to be ratified

Spirit Airlines flights were back in the air Monday after its pilots made a deal to end their four-day strike. The deal came midweek, and the Florida-based airline's operations resumed Friday.

Spirit Airlines and the its pilots, members of the 53,000-member Airline Pilots Association, reached a tentative pact, which a joint-news release says will be put to a ratification vote in July. The union leadership endorses the contract.

Spirit pilots had been negotiating for more than three years before the strike started June 12. The union said first officers in particular lagged their counterparts at other low-cost airlines like JetBlue Airways Corp. and AirTran Airways. The new contract would bring their pay closer.

Strikes at U.S. airlines are rare because of strict federal rules aimed at keeping the transportation system moving. The last strike at a major carrier was a walkout by Northwest Airlines mechanics in 2005.

The carrier is privately held and based in Miramar, Fla. It carries about 16,000 passengers per day, or about 1 percent of the nation's air traffic.

Spirit says passengers with travel plans for Friday should confirm their flights at www.spiritair.com.

In an attempt to get passengers back in Spirit seats, the company is offering 20,000 Spirit air miles to those who had flights booked between June 10 and June 17, chief marketing officer Barry Biffle said.

He said that is enough for one free flight, but if the customer has a Spirit credit card it's the equivalent of four free flights.

"We have an agreement in place that will allow us to grow," said Biffle, who described the agreement as "fair and equitable."

Spirit was mum about its losses, but the Sun Sentinel reported that U.S. Department of Transportation data indicates it collected about $2 million a day in revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Spirit operates about 150 daily flights in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.