Spirit Airways CEO Ted Christie was paid a $3.8 million retention bonus per week earlier than the no-frills Florida-based provider declared chapter, in keeping with a report.
Christie, whose firm introduced final month that it plans to chop an unspecified variety of jobs and to dump some jets price hundreds of thousands, will get to maintain the bonus if he stays with the agency for one more yr, in keeping with WLRN South Florida.
The chief government, who was named CEO in 2019 after having serviced as its chief monetary officer, lives in an opulent $2.5 million house in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — only a 30-minute drive from firm headquarters in Miramar, in keeping with Realtor.com.
Christie and his spouse, Theresa, paid $1.2 million for the three-bedroom, three-bathroom house in 2012.
The “custom built” abode, which measures 3,617 sq. toes of dwelling house atop a 6,189-square-foot lot, boasts a number of facilities together with a non-public swimming pool within the yard in addition to a lined porch.
The airline, whose inventory has fallen by greater than 90% for the reason that begin of the yr, filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in New York on Monday — months after a federal decide blocked its $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue Airways.
Extra just lately, merger talks between Spirit and Frontier broke down after the latter determined to not transfer ahead with a deal.
The chapter submitting marked a surprising fall from grace for an airline that had appreciable market share earlier than the coronavirus pandemic, when it was luring price-sensitive vacationers and forcing bigger carriers to introduce their very own variations of price range choices.
The airline’s enterprise mannequin of an built-in fleet, maintaining planes flying extra hours within the day and placing extra seats on each plane, helped optimize its assets and stored prices down.
Its excessive fleet utilization produced double-digit working margins for 9 straight years till 2020.
However the pandemic upended the working atmosphere and other people’s journey patterns — making it troublesome for Spirit to adapt.
Spirit’s common every day plane utilization is down 16% this yr versus 2019, fueling price pressures.
Client demand has shifted in favor of full-service airways previously two years as middle- and upper-income households had been vacationing extensively, whereas inflation harm lower-income spenders.
Loss after loss has continued to pile up within the meantime — with the corporate dropping greater than $2.5 billion for the reason that begin of 2020. Spirit additionally faces mounting debt, with looming funds totaling greater than $1 billion.
Spirit, like many different airways, chased progress, however did so by including greater than $2 billion in debt between 2020 and 2023.
Sticking to its pre-pandemic playbook, it grew capability on common by 27% previously three years in a bid to seize a much bigger slice of the leisure journey market.
Analysts urged Spirit and its no-frills friends to gradual growth plans.
The Publish has sought remark from Spirit Airways.
With Publish Wires
