Spirit Airlines Is Hiring Flight Attendants in Sacramento. But It’s Some Kind of Commute.

Budget air carrier Spirit Airlines has only a small presence at Sacramento International Airport —-four flights a day at most —-so it might be surprising to learn the airline is looking to hire more than 200 flight attendants at a job fair in Sacramento on Thursday at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel.

No, Spirit isn’t currently planning any expansion of service at Sacramento International Airport, said spokesman Thomas Fletcher, though he said the airline is always considering new routes.

The jobs will be based at Spirit’s flight base in Las Vegas. But you don’t necessarily have to relocate there.

Fletcher said new flight attendants have the option of flying to work to start their multi-day shifts on one of Spirit’s four daily flights from Sacramento to Las Vegas. The flight to work is free, though it’s on the employee’s time.

Fletcher said its fairly common in the airline industry for flight attendants and pilots to live outside of a crew base and to commute to and from work.

“A very tight labor market and the adding of new routes out of Las Vegas is causing us to hold our first ever Sacramento job hiring event,:” he said.

Fletcher said the airline wants to act quickly.

“Qualified candidates can land a job offer on the spot,” he said, “and potentially begin training before the end of January.”

Fletcher said the Las-Vegas based flight attendants would began and end their multi-day shifts in Las Vegas.

So, while they could be assigned a Sacramento flight, they would still have to fly back to their crew base in Las Vegas to end their shift.

In early April, 2022, Spirit flight attendants held informational pickets nationwide after severe weather caused the carrier to cancel 30 percent of its flights, leaving both flight attendants and passengers stranded for several days..

Flight attendants and Spirit management have been at odds over pay and working conditions for years. In December, attendants rejected a new contract that had been hammered out by a federal mediator.

The pay of Spirit flight attendants starts out at around $21 an hour, among the lowest in the U.S. commercial aviation industry.

Fletcher won’t discuss pay but said those hired as flight attendants at the Sacramento event would receive a full benefit package including health insurance, sick days and a 401(k) plan.

Spirit was among the carriers that pioneered ultra-low air fares in the U.S. but its extra charges for seat selection, carry-on luggage, even a bottle of water bought on the plane, can drastically increase the price of a trip.

Another carrier, JetBlue Airways, entered into a deal in July 2022 to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion. The deal, which still must be approved by U.S. airline regulators, is expected to close in the first half of 2024. If the deal becomes a reality. Spirit employees would become JetBlue workers.

The job fair is being held from 9 a.,m to 4 p.,m. The hotel is at 1209 L St.

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