Spirit unveils Houston as its 10th crew base, bringing 500 jobs
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."
Spirit serves 16 domestic and international destinations from Houston, including new service to Monterrey, Mexico (MTY), scheduled to begin this fall.
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.
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| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
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Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
- Top rated mobile app