Spirit Airlines is following through on a sweeping $80 million cost reduction plan, which includes the furlough of another 330 pilots by the end of January 2025, the pilots union and company confirmed Thursday.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after the airline dropped 186 pilots from its roster in early September. The latest round of furloughs would be accompanied by the demotion of 120 other pilots.

“We are implementing a series of cost savings initiatives throughout our business, including a reduction in workforce, as part of our comprehensive plan to return to profitability,” the airline said in a statement.

Ryan Muller, chairman of the Spirit unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a note to members that the union is “actively seeking options to mitigate these furloughs and are committed to supporting affected pilots during this challenging time.”

He said management notified the union that the reductions would take place effective Jan. 31, 2025.

The personnel moves follow Spirit’s recent deal to sell 23 older Airbus jetliners to an aviation services firm. Besides labor force cuts designed to streamline the operation, the airline is also cutting unprofitable routes.

“While these measures may strengthen Spirit’s financial position, they will result in approximately 330 pilot furloughs and around 120 demotions,” Muller said in the statement, which the union provided to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “The airline plans to operate a smaller fleet, which raises concerns about job security for pilots.”

“While the Company may emphasize numbers, we understand that each figure represents a dedicated pilot, their career, and their family’s future,” the statement added.

Spirit management telegraphed the potential for employee layoffs during the forthcoming first quarter in a recent regulatory filing. The moves come after a variety of setbacks and head winds for the airline, starting with a federal judge’s rejection of Spirit’s proposed $3.8 billion takeover by New York-based JetBlue Airways on antitrust grounds. Spirit also has been forced to ground aircraft to allow for engine inspections dictated by a manufacturers’ recall. On a broader front, other airlines have been flooding the Florida market with new capacity, seriously encroaching upon Spirit’s home turf.

The company is in the process of renegotiating portions of its heavy debt load of $3.3 billion, and is reported to have discussed a resolution through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Thus far, the company has declined to address those reports, as well as others suggesting it has entered into renewed merger talks with rival discounter Frontier Airlines, which unsuccessfully sought to combine with Spirit in 2022. Frontier has declined comment.

Plane sales, delivery delays

Spirit, which was No. 1 in passengers carried to and from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2023, agreed to sell the 23 older Airbus jetliners to GA Telesis, an aviation services firm based in Fort Lauderdale, for about $519 million. The planes are expected to be delivered from now and into February. A GA Telesis spokesman said the planes will not be leased back to Spirit, which means the airline’s fleet will fall likely below the 210 planes the company reported it was operating at the conclusion of the second quarter of 2024, which ended June 30.

Spirit in its regulatory filing said the plane deal would boost liquidity by $225 million through the end of next year after it paid off related debt.

The planes’ disposal, coupled with the continued grounding of others affected by the engine recalls, means the airline does not need a number of pilots who were flying for the company at the beginning of this year. In April, the airline reached an agreement with Airbus to defer deliveries of all new aircraft that were  scheduled to arrive from the second quarter of 2025 through 2026.