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Spirit Airlines flight cancelations strand travelers at Detroit Metro Airport

By and Amber Ainsworth
Published  August 2, 2021 11:15pm EDT
Travel
FOX 2 Detroit

Spirit Airlines cancels 100s of flights, frustrating travelers

Hundreds of Spirit Airlines flights were canceled over the weekend, and travelers are fed up.

ROMULUS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Travelers are fed up after Spirit Airlines canceled hundreds of flights around the country over the weekend.

"They gave me an email saying, ‘Your flight has been canceled.’ Nothing, not why, not when we’re available to get another flight, nothing," Milan Dudek said.

Related: Spirit passengers scuffle before flight to Detroit

Dudek and his son Tony found out that their flight back to Florida was canceled as they were going through security at Detroit Metro Airport.

Another traveler, Precious Anderson, said Monday that she has been stranded at the airport with her three children since Saturday after Spirit canceled their flight to Houston and botched their reservations with Delta.

"I will never fly with Spirit again. Ever," she said.

Some travelers made reservations with other airlines to get home.

"It’s $500 that I don’t have," said Anthony Kite, whose daughter was making him reservations with Delta. "If I don’t get to work tomorrow I might lose my job. I mean c’mon and they don’t even act like they care."

According to Spirit, there were "travel disruptions over the weekend due to a series of weather and operational challenges" that led the airline to "proactive cancellations."

Read More: Spirit flight delays, cancellations: Weather, ‘operational challenges’ to blame

The airline said it understands how frustrating it can be when plans change unexpectedly and is working to find solutions.

Dudek was irritated with the response from the airline.

"Kiss my (expletive). I’m never flying with you again," he said.

Rumors of employees striking is not true, according to the airline and unions for pilots and flight attendants. 

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing Spirit Flight Attendants, released the following statement:

"Spirit Airlines is experiencing operational issues causing flight delays and cancellations due to weather, schedule month change over, and IT outages."A few news outlets have incorrectly reported that this may be due to a strike. This is not true. There is no flight attendant strike. Crews are not the issue."Management is proactively cancellng flights today to recover the operation and prevent further disruption for passengers."