Jaunted

Spirit had two employees at a check in counter with well over 100 people in line. We arrived at the airport 1.5 hrs before our domestic flight - traveling, with two children, ages 1 and 3. It was apparent that the check-in line was barely moving and that Spirit’s two, entirely cavalier employees were either incapable of, or unable to manage the sheer volume of passengers.

With an hour to go, then 45 mins, and finally 30 mins to go before departure - and despite repeated attempts to get the Spirit employees to try and move people along who may have been trying to make this flight to Fort Lauderdale, approximately 30 passengers remained un-ticketed. There was no manager or supervisor on hand and despite repeated attempts to have one come up to the counter to address the situation - no one showed up - and no announcements were made.

With about 15 mins to go, we were finally ticketed, and our luggage checked in. We tried to rush through security and finally arrived at the gate, just in time to be told that the gate had been closed. Due to no fault of ours - and the complete lack of Spirit Airlines’ resources and staff on hand at La Guardia - our vacation plans are now over - kaput. Try explaining that to a 3 year old.

What’s more, we were told that the next flight we could be booked on to St. Thomas would be on Dec. 26 - and that Spirit would not reimburse our tickets. The excuse we were given was that it was not Spirit’s employees’ fault that they were under-resourced at the airport. Explain that to the 25-or-so passengers who now have to scramble to make other plans for the Holidays.

To read the end of the ordeal, head on over to Gothamist, but they do finish by bringing up a very important question: isn't it against security protocols to fly a plane with bags belonging to passengers who aren't on board? Well, yes and no. As everyone who's lost their bags may be aware, luggage gets sent in opposite ways it's ticketed all the time. But yeah—it shouldn't be. And as we've documented their many many issues over and over again, it's a wonder that Spirit Airlines is still flying.

[Photo: Willamoor Media]