Connect with us

Published

on

Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie was paid a $3.8 million retention bonus a week before the no-frills Florida-based carrier declared bankruptcy, according to a report.

Christie, whose company announced last month that it plans to cut an unspecified number of jobs and to sell off some jets worth millions, gets to keep the bonus if he stays with the firm for another year, according to WLRN South Florida.

The chief executive, who was named CEO in 2019 after having serviced as its chief financial officer, lives in a luxurious $2.5 million home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — just a 30-minute drive from company headquarters in Miramar, according to Realtor.com.

Christie and his wife, Theresa, paid $1.2 million for the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in 2012.

The “custom built” abode, which measures 3,617 square feet of living space atop a 6,189-square-foot lot, boasts several amenities including a private swimming pool in the backyard as well as a covered porch.

The airline, whose stock has fallen by more than 90% since the start of the year, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday — months after a federal judge blocked its $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue Airways.

More recently, merger talks between Spirit and Frontier broke down after the latter decided not to move forward with a deal.

The bankruptcy filing marked a stunning fall from grace for an airline that had considerable market share before the coronavirus pandemic, when it was luring price-sensitive travelers and forcing larger carriers to introduce their own versions of budget offerings.

The airline’s business model of an integrated fleet, keeping planes flying more hours in the day and putting more seats on every aircraft, helped optimize its resources and kept costs down.

Its high fleet utilization produced double-digit operating margins for nine straight years until 2020.

But the pandemic upended the operating environment and people’s travel patterns — making it difficult for Spirit to adapt.

Spirit’s average daily aircraft utilization is down 16% this year versus 2019, fueling cost pressures.

Consumer demand has shifted in favor of full-service airlines in the past two years as middle- and upper-income households were vacationing extensively, while inflation hurt lower-income spenders.

Loss after loss has continued to pile up in the meantime with the company losing more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020. Spirit also faces mounting debt, with looming payments totaling more than $1 billion.

Spirit, like many other airlines, chased growth, but did so by adding more than $2 billion in debt between 2020 and 2023.

Sticking to its pre-pandemic playbook, it grew capacity on average by 27% in the past three years in a bid to grab a bigger slice of the leisure travel market.

Analysts urged Spirit and its no-frills peers to slow expansion plans.

The Post has sought comment from Spirit Airlines.

With Post Wires

Continue Reading

World

Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson left me ‘half alive’, sole survivor says

Published

on

By

Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson left me 'half alive', sole survivor says

The sole surviving guest of a lunch where three others died after being served food laced with toxic mushrooms has told an Australian court that the actions of murderer Erin Patterson have left him feeling “half alive”.

Ian Wilkinson, who received a liver transplant and spent months in hospital after the poisoning in July 2023, described how he had been left traumatised as he delivered his victim impact statement at Patterson’s pre-sentencing hearing in Melbourne.

Patterson, 50, was found guilty last month of luring her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home in Leongatha and poisoning them with individual portions of Beef Wellington that contained toxic death cap mushrooms.

A jury also found her guilty of the attempted murder of Mr Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Australian mother found guilty of killing three relatives by serving toxic lunch

Speaking at the start of the two-day hearing, Mr Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor, said the death of his wife had left him bereft.

“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in tears.

“It’s one of the distressing shortcomings of our society that so much attention is showered on those who do evil and so little on those who do good.”

More on Australia

Ian and Heather Wilkinson. Pic: The Salvation Army Australia - Museum
Image:
Ian and Heather Wilkinson. Pic: The Salvation Army Australia – Museum

‘I bear her no ill will’

He described Gail and Don Patterson, the parents of Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, as the closest people to him after his wife and family.

“My life is greatly impoverished without them,” Mr Wilkinson said.

“I’m distressed that Erin has acted with callous and calculated disregard for my life and the lives of those I love. What foolishness possesses a person to think that murder could be the solution to their problems, especially the murder of people who have only good intentions towards her?”

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

He called on Patterson, who said the poisonings were accidental and continues to maintain her innocence, to confess to her crimes.

“I encourage Erin to receive my offer of forgiveness for those harms done to me with full confession and repentance. I bear her no ill will,” he said.

“I am no longer Erin Patterson’s victim and she has become the victim of my kindness.”

Read more from Sky News:
National Guard will begin carrying firearms in Washington DC
Flesh-eating screwworm parasite detected in person in US for first time

The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly.

Don and Gail Patterson. Picture: Facebook
Image:
Don and Gail Patterson. Picture: Facebook


‘An irreparably broken home’

Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson – who was invited to the lunch but declined – spoke of the devastating impact on the couple’s two children.

“The grim reality is they live in an irreparably broken home with only a solo parent, when almost everyone else knows their mother murdered their grandparents,” he said in a statement that was read out on his behalf.

Patterson attended the court in person on Monday rather than watch via a video link from prison which she did during a hearing earlier this month.

The hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

Patterson faces a potential life sentence for each of the murders and 25 years for attempted murder.

She has 28 days from the day of her sentencing to appeal, but has not yet indicated whether she will do so.

Continue Reading

US

National Guard will begin carrying firearms in Washington DC, official says

Published

on

By

National Guard will begin carrying firearms in Washington DC, official says

National Guard troops deployed to Washington DC in an effort to mitigate crime will begin carrying firearms, an official has said.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the authorisation of roughly 2,000 National Guard troops to begin carrying weapons.

The majority of the guard members will carry M17 pistols, their service-issued weapons, while a small number will be armed with M4 rifles, reports Sky’s US partner organisation, NBC News.

The troops are authorised to use their weapons for self-protection.

A White House official told NBC News that despite being armed, as of Saturday night, the National Guard troops in DC are not making arrests, and will continue to work on protecting federal assets.

The troops were largely deployed from outside the state and were framed by President Trump as a concerted effort to tackle crime and homelessness in the nation’s capital.

Such deployments are not common, and are typically used in response natural disasters or civil unrest.

More from US

Democrats have bashed the deployment as partisan in nature, accusing Mr Trump of trying to exert his presidential authority through scare tactics and said his primary targets have been cities with black leadership.

Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard patrol outside of Union Station. Pic: AP
Image:
Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard patrol outside of Union Station. Pic: AP

Pentagon plans to deploy US army to Chicago

Yesterday it was reported that the Pentagon was drafting plans to deploy the US army in Chicago, the largest city in the state.

The governor of Illinois then accused Mr Trump of “attempting to manufacture a crisis” and “abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families”.

Read more from Sky News:
Man and boy arrested after restaurant fire
Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced

Officials familiar with the proposals told the Washington Post that several options were being weighed up by the US defence department, including mobilising thousands of National Guard troops in Chicago as early as September.

Mr Trump had told reporters on Friday that “Chicago is a mess”, before attacking the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and hinting “we’ll straighten that one out probably next”.

Continue Reading

US

Flesh-eating screwworm parasite detected in person in US for first time

Published

on

By

Flesh-eating screwworm parasite detected in person in US for first time

A case of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite has been detected in a person in the United States for the first time.

The parasitic flies eat cattle and other warm-blooded animals alive, with an outbreak beginning in Central America and southern Mexico late last year.

It is ultimately fatal if left untreated.

The case in the US was identified in a person from Maryland who had travelled from Guatemala.

Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian, told Reuters on Sunday that she was notified of the case within the
last week.

A Maryland state government official also confirmed the case.

The person was treated and prevention measures were implemented, Reuters reports.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maryland Department of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What is screwworm?

The female screwworm fly lays eggs in the wounds of warm-blooded animals and once hatched, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh.

It can be devastating in cattle and wildlife, and has also been known to infect humans.

Treatment is onerous, and involves removing hundreds of larvae and thoroughly disinfecting wounds. They are largely survivable if treated early enough.

The confirmed case is likely to rattle the beef and cattle futures market, which has seen record-high prices because of tight supplies.

The US typically imports more than a million cattle from Mexico each year to process into beef. The screwworm outbreak could cost Texas – the biggest cattle-producing state – $1.8bn (£1.3bn) in livestock deaths, labour costs and medication
expenses.

A view shows a calf after being sprayed with a disinfectant spray to prevent screwworm. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A view shows a calf after being sprayed with a disinfectant spray to prevent screwworm. Pic: Reuters

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set traps and sent mounted officers along the border, but it has faced criticism from some cattle producers and market analysts for not acting faster to pursue increased fly production via a sterile fly facility.

What is a sterile fly facility?

The case also comes just one week after the US agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, travelled to Texas to announce plans to build a sterile fly facility there in a bid to combat the pest. Ms Rollins had pledged repeatedly to keep screwworm out of the country.

Read more:
Trump seeking to ‘manufacture a crisis’ in Chicago
Menendez brothers denied parole

A sterile fly facility produces a large number of male flies and sterilises them – these males are then released to mate with wild female insects, which collapses the wild population over time. This method eradicated screwworm from the US in the 1960s.

Mexico has also taken efforts to limit the spread of the pest, which can kill livestock within weeks if not treated. It had started to build a $51m sterile fly production facility.

The USDA has previously said 500 million flies would need to be released weekly to push the fly back to the Darien Gap, the stretch of rainforest between Panama and Colombia.

Continue Reading

Trending