Skip to content

Spirit unveils Houston as its 10th crew base, bringing 500 jobs

July 20, 2022
2 min read
Spirit Airlines Airbus Planes
Spirit unveils Houston as its 10th crew base, bringing 500 jobs
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don’t cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including Spirit Airlines' operation.

The Miramar, Florida-based carrier announced plans on Tuesday to open a dedicated crew base at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) later this fall. Spirit will staff about 150 pilots and 300 flight attendants in the new base, with additional crew, supervisors and support functions to follow in the coming months.

Opening a crew base in Houston follows news earlier this year of Spirit opening a new aircraft maintenance facility in Houston, which is serviced by more than 50 full-time employees. In addition to Houston, Spirit also performs aircraft maintenance at its hangars in Detroit.

By stationing crew members in Houston, the carrier will seemingly be able to grow in the market, as most pilots and flight attendants start and end their day at the same base. Spirit's Houston base is the 10th for the carrier, joining existing ones in Atlanta (ATL), Atlantic City (ACY), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Miami (MIA) and Orlando (MCO).

"In total, we are bringing about 500 good-paying jobs to the Houston marketplace. All of that means growth, we are going to continue to expand here in Houston. There are going to be lots more opportunities for Houstonians to get low fares on Spirit," said Spirit CEO Ted Christie in an interview.

As for why Houston is the ideal location for growing its employee base, Christie mentioned that "it's the perfect location because of the size of the market. Geographically, it's in a really good spot in the country."

Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Spirit serves 16 domestic and international destinations from Houston, including new service to Monterrey, Mexico (MTY), scheduled to begin this fall.

Spirit Airlines' Houston network (Map courtesy of Cirium)

The move to open a crew base in Houston comes as the bidding war for Spirit has heated up in recent months. Frontier announced plans in February to create a mega-ultra-low-cost carrier by merging with Spirit, while JetBlue has since entered the competition with multiple takeover bids.

Only time will tell which carrier prevails, as the recently rescheduled Spirit shareholder meeting is coming up on July 27.

Featured image by ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.