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

Sports

Jets’ Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

Published

on

By

Jets' Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele did not play in Game 7 of the Jets’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday due to an undisclosed injury, coach Scott Arniel said.

Arniel ruled out Scheifele following the team’s morning skate. He was hurt in Game 5 — playing only 8:05 in the first period before exiting — and then did not travel with the Jets to St. Louis for Game 6. Arniel previously had said Scheifele was a game-time decision for Game 7.

Scheifele, 32, skated in a track suit Saturday, and Arniel told reporters the veteran was feeling better than he had the day before. Scheifele, however, was not able to participate in the Jets’ on-ice session by Sunday, quickly indicating he would not be available for the game.

Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead in the series over St. Louis before the Blues stormed back with a pair of wins to tie it, 2-2. The home team has won each game in the best-of-seven series so far.

The Jets’ challenge in closing out St. Louis only increases without Scheifele. Winnipeg already has been dealing with the uneven play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a significant storyline in the series to date. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three of his starts at St. Louis while giving up a combined 16 goals on 66 shots (.758 SV%). In Game 6, Hellebuyck allowed four goals in only 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the second period.

Hellebuyck was Winnipeg’s backbone during the regular season, earning a Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy nomination for his impeccable year (.925 SV%, 2.00 GAA).

Continue Reading

Sports

Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

Published

on

By

Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

Stars coach Pete DeBoer expects to have leading goal scorer Jason Robertson and standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen available in the Western Conference semifinals after both missed Dallas’ first-round series win over the Colorado Avalanche.

Following their thrilling Game 7 comeback victory over the Avalanche on Saturday night, the Stars await the winner of Sunday night’s Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues. If the Blues win, the Stars will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.

“I believe you’re going to see them both play in the second round, but I don’t know if it’s going to be Game 1 or Game 3 or Game 5,” DeBoer said after Saturday’s series clincher. “I consider them both day-to-day now, but there’s still some hurdles. It depends on when we start the series, how much time we have between now and Game 1. We’ll have a little better idea as we get closer.”

Robertson, 25, who posted 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games this season, suffered a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale April 16 and was considered week-to-week at the time.

Heiskanen hasn’t played since injuring his left knee in a Jan. 28 collision with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. Initially expected to miss three to four months, the 25-year-old defenseman had surgery Feb. 4 and sat out the final 32 games of the regular season. In 50 games, he collected 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) and averaged 25:10 of ice time, which ranked fifth among NHL blueliners.

Continue Reading

Environment

U.S. crude oil prices fall more than 4% after OPEC+ agrees to surge production in June

Published

on

By

U.S. crude oil prices fall more than 4% after OPEC+ agrees to surge production in June

Logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images

U.S. crude oil futures fell more than 4% on Sunday, after OPEC+ agreed to surge production for a second month.

U.S. crude was down $2.49, or 4.27%, to $55.80 a barrel shortly after trading opened. Global benchmark Brent fell $2.39, or 3.9%, to $58.90 per barrel. Oil prices have fallen more than 20% this year.

The eight producers in the group, led by Saudi Arabia, agreed on Saturday to increase output by another 411,000 barrels per day in June. The decision comes a month after OPEC+ surprised the market by agreeing to surge production in May by the same amount.

The June production hike is nearly triple the 140,000 bpd that Goldman Sachs had originally forecast. OPEC+ is bringing more than 800,000 bpd of additional supply to the market over the course of two months.

Oil prices in April posted the biggest monthly loss since 2021, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have raised fears of a recession that will slow demand at the same time that OPEC+ is quickly increasing supply.

Oilfield service firms such as Baker Hughes and SLB are expecting investment in exploration and production to decline this year due to the weak price environment.

“The prospects of an oversupplied oil market, rising tariffs, uncertainty in Mexico and activity weakness in Saudi Arabia are collectively constraining international upstream spending levels,” Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call on April 25.

Oil majors Chevron and Exxon reported first-quarter earnings last week that fell compared to the same period in 2024 due to lower oil prices.

Goldman is forecasting that U.S. crude and Brent prices will average $59 and $63 per barrel, respectively, this year.

Catch up on the latest energy news from CNBC Pro:

Continue Reading

Trending