Keeping the Spirit alive: Natovia Shand lauds airline for family-like culture

Spirit Airlines has closed down, but for former Jamaican employee, Natovia Shand, the memories she made at the company will live on with her.

Ms. Shand joined Spirit in May 2025, and served as a flight scheduler, up until Saturday May 2, when the airline announced that it is shutting down as a business after failing to secure a US$500m bailout from the Trump administration.

After discussions failed, the carrier announced that it started to wind-down operations and cancelled all flights.

Spirit was emerging from its second bankruptcy filing in recent years before the US-Israel war in Iran, but the resulting surge in jet fuel costs pushed it over the brink.

Ms. Shand, who was based in Florida in the United States, said she was aware of the financial challenges the airline was having but the closure took her by surprise.

She said even after the closure took effect, she had to stay on the job for a few hours. 

Ms. Shand described Spirit as a melting pot and a family.

She said there were over 100 workers in her department.

Ms. Shand said workers hailed from all over the globe and on a daily basis, she interacted with over a dozen Jamaicans.

Ms. Shand is a trained Media and Communications Specialist but she decided to venture into aviation and Spirit exceeded expectations.

She said this will not be the last of her aviation journey, noting that other airlines have pledged to support affected Spirit staff.

Irie FM News understands that job fairs are being held in Florida specifically for former Spirit Airlines employees.