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Spirit Airlines Cancelled Flights Causes Chaos at Ft. Lauderdale Airport

V

Violence Jack

Member
Another day, another domestic airline story.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/spirit-airlines-cancellations-fort-lauderdale-airport-cause-chaos-n756756

Cellphone video captured the mayhem that erupted Monday night at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after hundreds of travelers became stranded.

Security wrestled with unruly passengers as punches flew, leading to at least three arrests. Screams wailed through the under-construction terminal, as officers wrestled passengers to the ground.

At the Spirit Airlines ticket counters, swarms of distraught customers waited two to three hours in an attempt to learn why they had been stranded in Broward County, Florida.

The cancellations stemmed from an ongoing labor dispute between Spirit Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association, International. Pilots are arguing for better contracts, which they say are currently below industry standards.
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Video at the link. Spirit Airlines has always been shit, and nothing of value would be lost if they went out of business.
 
L

Lach

Member
WTF at that statement. It's all the pilots fault because they are not happy that we sued them!
 
C

conpfreak

Member
Honestly, unless there isn't a flight that goes to your destination, I have no clue why people book anything but Southwest. They usually have good time coverage and no checked bag fees is a godsend. Prices are always reasonable as well.
 
L

LordGorchnik

Member
That really sucks for the customers.

If there was ever a time for American, Delta, United, Southwest to step-up and offer assistance to shine some good light on them this would be it
 
Q

Quotient

Member
I understand folks being upset and rightly so, but i don't understand why you would get into a physical altercation with someone, whether it is an airline employee or another passenger. It doesn't achieve anything besides getting arrested.
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
conpfreak said:
Honestly, unless there isn't a flight that goes to your destination, I have no clue why people book anything but Southwest. They usually have good time coverage and no checked bag fees is a godsend. Prices are always reasonable as well.
Click to expand...

Price. Spirit is cheaper as long as you are using as basically a bus, but quite a bit. Southwest wanted about 380 for my Trip to Vegas. Spirit I could get for 280. Went with United for 310
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
I'm sure everyone really wasn't THAT upset at first, but after seeing that the flight was cancelled Spirit charged customers $25 to speak to a person to find out why there was no airplane at the gate.
 
yongeandcollege

yongeandcollege

Member
I've been in that airport a few times trying to get on a spirit flight with an infant. Horrible experience - it's always chaos. Never enough employees.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
conpfreak said:
Honestly, unless there isn't a flight that goes to your destination, I have no clue why people book anything but Southwest. They usually have good time coverage and no checked bag fees is a godsend. Prices are always reasonable as well.
Click to expand...

This is the case for me like 75% of the time, and thats why people don't always fly Southwest.
 
C

conpfreak

Member
shintoki said:
Price. Spirit is cheaper as long as you are using as basically a bus, but quite a bit. Southwest wanted about 380 for my Trip to Vegas. Spirit I could get for 280. Went with United for 310
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Yeah, but once you add in check bag fees, the price difference is negligible considering Southwest had a reputation for good customer service, while United doesn't. That was the case long before the overbooking incident a few weeks ago. But if I was doing an overnight trip, I'd consider Spirit based on the price.
 
n64coder

n64coder

Member
I've flown Spirit a few times. Never had any issues. Yes, I prefer JetBlue or some other airline but you do save money.

Going to FL during school vacation, I paid around $2400 for 4 people with 1 checked bag each on Spirit. The other airlines were charging $3200 and above.

In Boston, Spirit has a single gate and its own TSA area so there was no lines for security unlike the other airlines.
 
n64coder

n64coder

Member
Kreed said:
**Hidden fees not included in this statement.
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I don't think the fees are hidden. They do tell you what the fees are and it's your choice whether or not to accept them. The ones that I know of are:

1. Checking a bag other than a personal item.
2. Picking a seat assignment
3. Priority pre-boarding
4. Airport agent check-in

That's it. When I saved $800 doing a recent FL school vacation, we had done options #1 & #2. My wife wouldn't let me do random seat assignments and risk my daughters being seated next to some rando.

You have to do your homework and see if the cost savings are worth flying on Spirit.
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
On Monday, Spirit Airlines filed a federal lawsuit against the ALPA in the South District of Florida, alleging the pilots are engaging in a "pervasive illegal work slowdown" and causing "irreparable harm to [Spirit's] goodwill with its customers."
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Spirit, I think you're good at causing irreparable harm to your goodwill with customers all by yourself; you don't need your pilots' help.
 
V

vacantseas

Member
Flew on Spirit a bunch lately. Don't get the hate. Yes they nickel and dime you, but if you dont care what seat you sit in, or priority boarding or any of that crap, you can fly for pretty cheap. It's an airplane in 2017. If I'm flying domestic, all airlines are pretty much shite. They get me from point A to point B in a short amount of time.
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
vacantseas said:
Flew on Spirit a bunch lately. Don't get the hate. Yes they nickel and dime you, but if you dont care what seat you sit in, or priority boarding or any of that crap, you can fly for pretty cheap. It's an airplane in 2017. If I'm flying domestic, all airlines are pretty much shite. They get me from point A to point B in a short amount of time.
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I hate Spirit because they didn't get me from point A to point B, in which case it doesn't matter how cheap they are.
 
K

Kusagari

Member
Southwest wasn't even an option when I flew from Fort Lauderdale to Boston earlier this year. Ended up going with Delta who were actually cheaper than Spirit once you factor in their bag prices.
 
J

Jetku

Member
As a single guy, Spirit was fine. But now I'm married with a baby - I don't want to risk it.

We flew Spirit home from Myrtle Beach to PHL and I was dreading issues since we had the baby. Only an hour flight but crampt, and we had to get creative packing. Crazy to me that first Carry On would have been $35 whereas first checked bag was $30.

We travel to Disney World at least once a year and Southwest is my number one choice by far. I've invested in their credit cards enough to get me the Companion pass for this year and next and I have no regrets. Always a relatively pleasant experience - as good as a "cheap" airline can get anyway.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Kusagari said:
Southwest wasn't even an option when I flew from Fort Lauderdale to Boston earlier this year. Ended up going with Delta who were actually cheaper than Spirit once you factor in their bag prices.
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Was JetBlue not an option? Haven't flown them in a few years, but I remember them being reasonable price wise at the time.
 
H

Host Samurai

Member
I'm seriously surprised that they're still in business. Their flights aren't cheaper as you have to pay like $100 for a carry on. Oh and their planes suck ass. I feel like I'm in the 70's when I'm on their shit planes. Never again will I fly them..::it's been since 2009.

I'd rather fucking walk to my destination than ride that shit company again.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Host Samurai said:
I'm seriously surprised that they're still in business. Their flights aren't cheaper as you have to pay like $100 for a carry on. Oh and their planes suck ass. I feel like I'm in the 70's when I'm on their shit planes. Never again will I fly them..::it's been since 2009.
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Ironically, I sometimes like older planes in general because the legroom is on occasion so much more than normal. Many modern planes have been modified or built to cram in as many seats as possible. Which I guess environmentally is better - but wreaks havoc on the knees in economy. And I'm not even considered tall.

I've flirted with the idea of flying Spirit, but I see that 28" seat pitch and nope out of the screen. Among other issues I see with the flight pricing.
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
Trash airline, with inexperienced or rookie flyers.

Cancellations are mad shitty, but fighting over that? That's insane... rebook, figuring it the fuck out and don't turn into crazed people...

That looked entirely preventable on all sides.
 
M

Makonero

Member
Having flown out of Ft. Lauderdale, that airport is crowded with few restaurants and a tiny amount of charging stations. I was stuck there for about 8 hours and it was basically hell.

My sympathies rest with those passengers stranded there.
 
H

Host Samurai

Member
GoldenEye 007 said:
Ironically, I sometimes like older planes in general because the legroom is on occasion so much more than normal. Many modern planes have been modified or built to cram in as many seats as possible. Which I guess environmentally is better - but wreaks havoc on the knees in economy. And I'm not even considered tall.

I've flirted with the idea of flying Spirit, but I see that 28" seat pitch and nope out of the screen. Among other issues I see with the flight pricing.
Click to expand...

Spirit has the most crammed and uncomfortable seats that I've ever sat in. The plane is also very narrow.
 
C

C.Mongler

Member
giancarlo123x said:
Better than Miami International, I hope I never have to go through that again.
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I came back into the States from an international flight where I had to go through Miami for the first time...it was the weirdest shit. We had to walk almost a mile (including a train ride) through completely empty airport before we finally reached Customs and Immigration. Like literally there was nothing there, the entire way. Very baffled at the complete waste of space their setup was.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
conpfreak said:
Honestly, unless there isn't a flight that goes to your destination, I have no clue why people book anything but Southwest. They usually have good time coverage and no checked bag fees is a godsend. Prices are always reasonable as well.
Click to expand...

Southwest is great over short distances. But when they charge $600 for round trip San Diego to Tampa and Spirit is charging $350 after bag fees, it's tough to go with Southwest.

But I definitely won't be going Spirit anymore.
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
shintoki said:
Price. Spirit is cheaper as long as you are using as basically a bus, but quite a bit. Southwest wanted about 380 for my Trip to Vegas. Spirit I could get for 280. Went with United for 310
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Nope.

Spirit charges you for your carry on. They are only cheaper if you're flying with literally nothing in hand but a purse-sized piece of luggage.

To say nothing of their policies towards making flights.
 
V

Viewt

Member
giancarlo123x said:
Better than Miami International, I hope I never have to go through that again.
Click to expand...

MIA and FLL are both shitty for different reasons. MIA is a Hunger Games-esque maze of bad layout decisions, the lowest-of-the-low TSA crop, and complete anarchy when it comes to large-scale issues. All it takes is Delta's system going down to turn the airport into Lord of the Flies.

FLL is a small, underfunded, kinda-bleak airport. If you happen to be flying in on a slow day or during an off-peak time, it's actually kinda nice. You can move through it pretty quickly, and you don't have to wait that much time to get on the runway. However, if it's a high-volume day, you're completely fucked, because the staff slows down to a crawl and tensions run high. Doesn't help that you're in a swampy hellhole of a state, either.

People love to shit on O'Hare here in Chicago, but I'd take that any day over either MIA or FLL.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
if you buy tickets on spirit airline flights you should pretty much expect everything to go disastrously wrong

you saved your 30 dollars (and then probably gave it to them in baggage fees anyway), now wait in florida for however long
 
Jag

Jag

Member
It's not a terrible airport, but it has been facing severe growing pains and only now is the construction finally catching up with the tremendous growth. Tons of tourists flow through, for the islands and cruise ships. I think it's one of the top 50 busiest in the world.

It wasn't designed to handle the sheer traffic it has now. A new runway was added last year and they are constantly expanding to meet the demand.

I live down here, so I fly out of it constantly. It does a fine job of getting people in and out, but it doesn't have nearly the comforts of other airports. I flew out this year the day before Thanksgiving and also Christmas and New Years and didn't have any issues at all.
 
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