‘What do I do now?’ Former Spirit employees gather at Broward headquarters

Eric Tirado was watching the news late Friday night at home in Fort Lauderdale when he finally dozed off on his couch around 1 a.m. A few hours later, he woke up startled. He glanced at his TV and “Spirit was all over the screen,” he said.

On Monday, he was one of about 200 sudden ex-employees of the low-cost airline who came to its headquarters at Dania Pointe. Spirit Airlines, out of money and hope, shut down at 3 a.m. Saturday, leaving travelers and workers in a bind.

The crowd came to express anger and sadness. But in many cases, they were there just to get hugs and support from friends and colleagues. “Mi amor” was heard over and over as people embraced.

Many who showed up were still processing what happened.

“I haven’t quite absorbed the whole idea yet,” Tirado told the Miami Herald. “It’s going to come, sooner or later.”

The 67-year-old flight attendant who had worked out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, said “24 years of doing this. I gave a lot of my life to it.”

He was thinking about retiring in three years.

“I ask myself, ‘What’s going to happen now. What do I do now?’ ”

Money is tight, and he’s not getting financial assistance.

“I’ve been thinking about that more than anything else,” he said.

Jennifer Sea was “very sad” and “worried about a job now.”

The 28-year-old had been a Spirit flight attendant based at FLL for the past five years.

“I’m very concerned about getting by the next few months,” she said at the Dania Beach Spirit building. “I’m worried about my income.”

While she’s younger than many others, she realizes other airlines also face tougher times, especially with oil prices up since the U.S. started a war against Iran.

“Finding a flight attendant job now is very hard,” she said. “It’s a difficult time in the industry now.”

Some Spirit workers may have to leave the country. The carrier had about 80 Australians until it started furloughing pilots last year.

Reid Mitchell, 39, lasted until Friday but now faces the same challenge. He was a first officer for Spirit for 3 1/2 years, based in both Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas.

He said he’s feeling “disappointment and shock.”

“We were told by the company until the very last day that ‘everything is normal, just go to work, don’t believe the media,’ “ he said. “Now?”

The Australian said he now has 60 days to leave the United States. If he finds work and gets sponsorship, he can stay. But he realizes that won’t be easy.

“I’ll probably stay for a couple more weeks, get my affairs in order but ultimately go back,” he said. “We’ll probably look for work outside the U.S. It’s severely frustrating.”

Amy Drinkhouse was a flight attendant for over 25 years. Also a leader of the flight attendants union, she said “corporate greed and global politics was the final blow for Spirit Airlines.”

Outside headquarters, she acknowledged “Spirit Airlines has always been the butt of jokes.”

“But data doesn’t lie,” she said. “We had the best safety record in the United States and that was because of every single Spirit Airline employee — the mechanic, the dispatchers, the flight attendants, the ground staff, the gate agent, and the customer service agent.

“Every single person cared so much about this airline running successfully and safely,” she said, ”and we put our heart and soul into it.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 4:36 PM.