Spirit Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association,
Int’l (ALPA), today announced strong support for the Spirit Airlines
flight attendants union in its demand that Spirit Airlines management
end offensive marketing strategies. On top of the many Spirit Airlines
campaigns that contain crude sexual innuendo, management has now asked
that the flight attendants wear aprons advertising alcoholic beverages.
“To ask safety professionals to advertise alcohol on a plane is not only
offensive but degrading,” said Capt. Sean Creed, chair of the Spirit
Airlines pilots union. “Unfortunately, if you look at their past
advertising campaigns, it is also not surprising. This company has a
long history of crude advertising slogans, created more to shock than to
sell.”
Spirit Airlines has become known for its odious advertisements,
including the infamous MILF: Many Islands, Low Fares campaign. The
“MILF” campaign was originally introduced in 2007 and was publicly
ridiculed for its vulgar reference. The company claimed that it was
unaware that MILF could be an off-color term for an attractive mother.
Despite this backlash, or perhaps because of the media storm it created,
Spirit Airlines brought back the campaign earlier this month. Other
campaigns have been just as distasteful, such as the “We’re having a
threesome” or the “We’re proud of our DDs” e-mails.
The company’s latest marketing campaign would turn flight attendants
into walking billboards by requiring them to wear alcohol ads on their
aprons. Spirit flight attendants have balked at this outrageous scheme
that would demean their responsibilities, which ironically include
managing intoxicated and unruly passengers.
“The recent US Airways accident in New York again proved that flight
attendants are definitely not ‘waitresses in the sky,’ no matter what
Spirit management may think,” continued Capt. Creed. “They are
responsible for the safety of millions of passengers each day, and they
are the first responders should any incident occur. The pilots join them
in demanding that this management stop these campaigns and run this
company more like an airline and less like a frat house.”
Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union and represents
52,500 pilots at 36 airlines in the U.S. and Canada, including more than
500 pilots at Spirit Airlines. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org.
