Talks to resume between Spirit and striking pilots

June 15, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

Spirit Airlines and its striking pilots agreed to meet with mediators today, the union said, signaling a potential thaw that would be welcomed by the thousands of customers holding tickets on the grounded airline.

Sean Creed, the head of the pilot union at Spirit, said the National Mediation Board has asked both sides to meet in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. However, union officials said the strike would continue until they approve any deal.

Spirit said it wouldn’t fly until Thursday at the earliest, forcing its roughly 16,000 daily passengers to get where they were going by rental car or an expensive walk-up fare on another airline. Spirit carries just 1 percent of the nation’s air traffic, but those travelers have been 100 percent grounded by the pilot walkout.

Spirit usually is the biggest carrier at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey. On Monday two of its planes sat idle on the ramp, and only a few people were near its ticket counters.

The airline is offering customers credit for future flights, plus $100. But if they want refunds instead, customers have to call the airline and ask for one.

Joe Brancatelli, an air travel expert who runs a travel blog, said Spirit’s policy of encouraging credit for future travel rather than a refund made it harder for customers to get their money back.

“Everything they’ve done maximizes the pain on the passenger, minimizes their financial exposure,” he said.