The airline’s collapse left a half-billion dollars worth of leased planes sitting at gates around the country with no pilots, no gate agents and no one in charge.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — When Spirit Airlines collapsed, it didn’t just strand passengers. It left a half-billion dollars worth of leased planes sitting at gates around the country with no pilots, no gate agents and no one in charge.
Nomadic Aviation was contracted by the leasing company to get those planes back. He had hours to make it happen.
“They said, get ready to go. And by 6 p.m. on Friday, I got a call that said pull the trigger, get flight crews out to all of these various airports. We’re going to give you a list,” said owner of Nomadic Aviation, Bob Allen.
Spirit had been struggling for months, but the shutdown was immediate. No call center, no warning. Some planes were simply left at the gate mid-operation.
“They’re literally just abandoned by Spirit at that point. They close the doors. The airplanes sit where they were parked when they dropped off passengers,” Allen said.
Time was a factor. The planes were sitting unattended with no maintenance, no security and no one checking on them.
“So we had six hours to find 20 pilots for that initial group of airplanes,” Allen said.
Allen started with the most available pilots he could find: the ones who had just lost their jobs when Spirit shut down. Some of them were still in the air when the airline ceased operations. Others were preparing for flights they would never take.
Allen said he understood exactly what they were going through.
“The reason I’m empathetic to all this is because I’ve been in the same situation four or five times. I was with airlines that closed their doors overnight. I woke up the next morning not having a job. I’m worried about how am I going to make my mortgage? How can I make my health care? I have little kids and I know what they’re all going through,” Allen said.
He hired as many former Spirit pilots as he could and sent them across the country. But repossessing a commercial aircraft isn’t as simple as showing up with the right paperwork.
“That starts involving us literally sending pilots knocking on doors of airport security, the airport authority and saying, I’m here to pick up our airplane. We’re moving it on behalf of the leasing company. And then the airport authority looks at you like you’re completely crazy,” Allen said.
With the paperwork sorted and the tanks fueled, the planes were in the air, headed to Arizona.
More than two dozen Spirit jets are now parked in lines in the Arizona desert. Allen said the planes could be leased again, sold or scrapped. In some cases, only the engines were leased and may be removed separately.