Spirit Airlines makes a deal to end pilots' strike

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

By JOSHUA FREED - Spirit Airlines made a deal with its pilots on Wednesday that will end their strike, and the airline said it would fly again starting Friday.

The strike won't officially end until pilots sign a back-to-work agreement, the union said.

"I think our people will be more than willing to assist the company in getting itself back together and fully operational as soon as we possibly can," said Sean Creed, a Spirit captain and head of the Air Line Pilots Association unit there.

Spirit had already canceled its Thursday flights before the agreement was reached. Before the strike, Spirit had said it intended to fly through any job action. That didn't happen, and many of its customers found themselves stranded with limited ability to use their tickets on other airlines. Many paid hundreds of dollars to fly on another carrier, or rented cars, to get where they were going.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20100617/AP05/306089899

[Yuugal]

1. K&R

[No Elephants]

2. But Spirit continues years of disrespecting women (and unions)

"Controversial advertisements
Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza says Spirit has cut its marketing and distribution expenses by more than 80% during the last three years "by using edgy, viral marketing." The savings have resulted in very inexpensive fares, he says. Spirit's advertising "may be more colorful than some," but it isn't "out of the norm" when compared with many retailers' ads, Super Bowl commercials and the content of TV series, Baldanza says.<26>

2006
In 2006, the airline released a “Hunt for Hoffa” advertising campaign with the tagline “Help us find Hoffa with our Hunt for Hoffa game and enjoy fares from just $39 each way.” The point of the game was to dig for Jimmy Hoffa’s body by clicking grids on the airline’s website, and “winners” were taken to another webpage, saying "You found Hoffa!" thanking them for assisting the National Spirit Sale Center find the union leader’s body.<27> Within hours after the promotion debuted, the airline received many complaints, and the promotion was taken down immediately and changed to another promotion, simply titled “Happy Sale.” This promotion was later listed as #8 on CNN Money’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.<28>

2007
In December 2007, the airline released a sale with the acronym MILF, standing for “Many Islands, Low Fares.” Online and TV media picked up on this and noted that M.I.L.F. was popularized in the movie American Pie as an acronym for "Mom I'd Like to Fuck" This controversy was covered on CBS and ABC News, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and The O'Reilly Factor.<29>

2008
In April 2008, the airline sent an email to its marketing subscription list announcing “We’re having a threesome. Join us in the fun.” Offering "three sales in one," the email repeatedly proposes the "threesome."<30>

2009
On January 8, 2009, the airline announced the return of the MILF Special, described as meaning "Many Islands, Low Fares".<31><32>

On December 2, 2009, shortly after a well publicized car accident involving golfer Tiger Woods, Spirit launched lowered fares in a promotion called the "Eye of the Tiger Sale". Imagery for the campaign featured an SUV crashing into a fire hydrant, with a tiger leaning out the driver's side window.<33>

2010
On February 2, 2010, the airline offered the "Many Unbelievably Fantastic Fares (MUFF) to Diving Destinations" promotion. Many of their prominent Caribbean or Floridian destinations were featured."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Airlines