Spirit Airlines cancels nearly 20 flights out of Myrtle Beach airport on Friday
This story has been updated with comments from Spirit Airlines and the Myrtle Beach International Airport.
More than half of the flights out of Myrtle Beach Friday on Spirit Airlines have been canceled as the carrier continues to struggle with staffing shortages, weather issues and undisclosed “operational challenges.”
The airline has canceled 17 out of 25 flights leaving MYR on Friday, according to FlightAware. In total, the airline has canceled 34 flights to and from Myrtle Beach International Airport. Thursday, the airline canceled more than 40 flights to and from the airport, and the airline has canceled close to 100 Myrtle Beach flights this week. The airline has been taking flights off its schedule for the last six days.
Here are the destinations affected by the flight cancellations.
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Chicago
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Hartford, Conn.
- Latrobe, Pa.
Newark, N.J.
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh
Spirit is one of the oldest carriers serving MYR, having just celebrated its 25th anniversary there in June. It provides more flights to and from the one-terminal airport than any other airline. For the first half of this year, Spirit made up “49% of all passengers traveling through MYR.”
The airport has referred all questions on the current situation with Spirit’s cancellations to the airline. Spirit Airlines said in an email that the company’s current recovery plan after the disruptions is working and that the cancellation rate has already begun improving. The company expects to resume normal operations by the middle of next week.
“What started with weather and its associated delays led to more and more crew members getting dislocated and being unable to fly their assigned trips,” Spirit spokesman Field Sutton said in an email. “Ultimately, the number of crews facing those issues outpaced our crew scheduling department’s capacity for getting them back in place.”
Sutton said that Spirit is offering re-accommodation, flight credits, refunds, hotel vouchers and meal vouchers “as warranted by each guest’s individual circumstance.”
“Our primary objective right now is taking care of our guests and team members and getting our operation back to where we want it to be,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie said in a statement. “To our guests, I am truly sorry. We’ve spent years investing in the reliable, on-time experience you’ve come to expect with Spirit, and this week we fell short. We’re going to do everything we can to earn back your loyalty.”
Airlines around the country have struggled to meet demand from vacationers seeking to get out of the house after 16 months of the coronavirus pandemic. They’ve also faced a seemingly never-ending list of problems, from worker shortages to jet fuel shortages to budget shortfalls that have left many airlines with stiff financial hangovers.
Spirit’s flight cancellations have affected hundreds of passengers going to and from MYR. One passenger, Alexander Flores, was stuck in the airport over the weekend, and he never even planned to fly here. He was flying home to Fort Lauderdale from Chicago on Saturday, but his initial direct flight was canceled.
Spirit put him on a new flight the following day with a connection in Myrtle Beach, but then he ended up stuck in here after his connection was canceled. He finally made it home Monday night after switching to United.
For days, Spirit failed to give a clear picture as to what is causing all of the delays and cancellations. Rumors have circulated that the staffing shortages are due to a pilot strike. However, the airline said earlier this week that those rumors are “completely untrue.”
On Wednesday, the airline released a more thorough statement.
‘The last three days were extremely difficult for our guests and team members, and for that we sincerely apologize. We continue to work around the clock to get our guests where they need to be,” the airline said in its statement.
“We’ve dealt with overlapping operational challenges including weather, system outages and staffing shortages that caused widespread irregularities in our operations and impacted crew scheduling. These issues were exacerbated by the fact that we are in peak summer travel season with very high industry load factors and more limited options for guest re-accommodations.
“After working through (Tuesday’s) proactive cancellations, we’ve implemented a more thorough reboot of the network, allowing us to reassign our crews more efficiently and restore the network faster. As a result, cancellation numbers will progressively drop in the days to come.
“By taking an in-depth look at the challenges we’re facing, we have identified opportunities for improvement that will help us operate a more resilient network and better serve our guests.”
That statement was two days ago, but many passengers have expressed frustration online that the airline is still canceling dozens of flights, often with little warning, often the morning of a departure.
Spirit wasn’t the only airline facing issues this week. American Airlines also canceled hundreds of flights nationally, but those flights made up just 10% of its scheduled departures, whereas Spirit canceled roughly half of its flights on several days this week.
“For American … it seems to be improving significantly,” Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, told the Washington Post in a story published Thursday. “For Spirit, Lord help you. I have no idea when things are going to get better.”
Was your flight canceled? Or are you worried it might be? Here’s some tips on how to handle it.
- Give yourself time: Important trip coming up? Maybe book the flight a day (or days) in advance of the event, just in case your initial flight gets canceled.
- Get a direct flight: Less room for error. If you’re already scrambling to make it to a connecting flight, a delay is even worse.
- Don’t check a bag: If your flight gets canceled, you might be sent on a scavenger hunt to find out where in the airport black hole your bag has been sent.
- Pack snacks! Several people at Myrtle Beach International Airport recently told The Sun News that there was next to nothing in the way of food. Coming prepared with granola bars will save you from fighting hangry crowds for the last cinnamon roll at the only restaurant outside of security.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 11:58 AM.
