Florida-based ultra-LCC Spirit Airlines has announced plans to launch a new crew base at Orlando International Airport (MCO). The base—slated to open Dec. 1—will eventually house 500 flight attendants and 300 pilots, according to the company. That comes on top of the 150 service providers the airline has already hired in recent months to support its expanded offerings at MCO.
“Orlando is the perfect location for our new crew base and our international expansion,” Spirit CEO Bob Fornaro said. “We’ve served more than 22 million guests in our 25 years in Orlando.”
“Spirit Airlines’ growth in the Central Florida region is evident with their increased domestic and international flight schedules,” Greater Orlando Aviation Authority CEO Phil Brown said. “Now, with the addition of a Spirit crew base at Orlando International Airport, they further solidify their commitment to our community.”
The crew base announcement coincided with the Oct. 4 launch of new direct international routes from Orlando to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN); Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA); Panama City, Panama (PTY) and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ).
Those inaugural flights kick off a series of new international and domestic offerings from MCO that will take place over the next two months. The new routes will increase Spirit’s footprint in the Orlando region, with nonstop service to 38 destinations and up to 49 flights daily across the US, Caribbean and Latin America.
Fornaro told reporters following the announcement that the company views Latin America as a growing market and a “strong community of interest” for the Central Florida region. He said a “combination of tourism and an extremely strong family connection” between the two regions made Orlando a logical choice from which to launch the new routes.
He also said the airline would continue expanding into Latin America, penetrating “as far as a narrowbody airplane can take us”…
