Spirit Airlines sells planes, recalls furloughed flight attendants

Spirit Airlines, which is trying to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year, has sold 20 more Airbus planes and brought back its furloughed flight attendants.

The sale of the 20 planes, most of which are not in service, comes as Spirit tries to stabilize after years of financial woes in which executives fought to keep the carrier alive.

“At this time, natural attrition and voluntary actions provide the flexibility to right-size our staffing levels for both pilots and flight attendants,” John Bendoraitis, Spirit’s chief operating officer, said in a memo to employees Wednesday evening.

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

Negotiations with investment firm Castlelake and budget airline Frontier Airlines have not resulted in a deal that would give Spirit a path forward, although the airline could develop a plan on its own.

The Dania Beach, Fla.-based carrier is also recalling 500 flight attendants from furlough, as it prepares for the spring break travel season.

“Fixing this airline is a shared effort,” Bendoraitis said. “There are a lot of things right now that crews can’t control, but we need you to continue to give us the foundation for a strong operation.”

Spirit has reduced its network and fleet and laid off more than 1,300 flight attendants and hundreds of pilots to save money.

“This is good news for 500 flight attendants and their families and critical for those of us on the line who have faced a grueling operation over the past two months,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Spirit’s flight attendants union, said in a message to its members on Wednesday. “The company’s goal in recalling flight attendants is to alleviate some operational issues that have arisen since the furloughs.”