CLEVELAND — Twenty out of 25 Spirit Airline flights out of Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport were canceled on Thursday, according to the flight tracking website Flight Aware.
The situation in Columbus at John Glenn International Airport was not much better. Nine of the airline’s 13 flights out of Columbus were also canceled, according to Flight Aware.
Systemwide, Flight Aware reported that 56% of the airline’s flights were canceled for the day.
As of Friday morning, several flights in and out of the two Ohio cities were canceled.
CEO Ted Christie told reporters that staffing shortages have caused the airline to cancel many of its flights, according to CNBC.
“There’s definitely some angry people,” he said, according to CNBC. “Right now, all I can say is we’re very sorry for what happened.”
While there has been speculation on social media over a strike, the Spirit Airlines Master Executive Council union said a strike was not the cause of the shortage.
“Spirit’s pilots are working diligently with other employee groups to safely and professionally return to full operations as soon as possible,” the union said on Monday.
For travelers using Spirit, Cleveland-Hopkins recommends calling the airline directly to get updated flight information.
