HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - As former Spirit Airlines employees are left in limbo following the airline’s shutdown, a state agency has offered assistance.
At least 3,000 jobs across Broward County have been affected by the airline’s shuttering, with its headquarters in Dania Beach and operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
However, workers at CareerSource Broward have stepped in to offer job workshops and other assistance to former Spirit employees.
“We’re working together, pulling our employers together, and to make sure that we’re able to get them back into employment,” said Carol Hylton from CareerSource Broward.
Now, the state agency is making sure that those employees can quickly find a job.
“I redid my resume yesterday, but now I’m finding out there are a lot of new things. I haven’t been in the job market for 29 years, so that was eye-opening,” said Tashia, a former Spirit employee.
Her 29-year career was grounded overnight, and now her new career journey is taking flight.
“I would like to go to another airline and fly, but we’ll see. We’ll see where God takes me,” she said.
The Spirit shutdown is also affecting Dania Beach.
“Potential impact on Dania Beach is about $1.2 million,” said Dania Beach Vice Mayor Marco Salvino.
The city’s tax revenue from Spirit’s massive Dania Point campus is now gone as well.
“We invested over $300,000 to ensure that we would have high-paying jobs here at this facility,” said former Dania Beach mayor Tamara James.
James was mayor in 2020, when Spirit Airlines broke ground on a new $250 million state-of-the-art headquarters and training facility.
“Having it here was a major economic boost for us, for our restaurants, and our gas stations, and our businesses,” said James.
Years later, the headquarters is shuttered, and now many wonder what’s next.
“It’d be a great opportunity for someone to come in and take this over, and establish themselves in Dania Beach, because everything is just turnkey and ready to go,” said Salvino.
“While a big airline did leave, we’ll be able to fill the void, fill the vacuum, with space and other airlines that provide competitive rates, competitive service, and good product,” said Broward County Mayor Mark Bogan.
It is unclear what the status or the future will be for the Dania Point headquarters, but in total, 17,000 employees who worked there have been affected.
Broward County officials have told 7News that other airlines are eyeing more gates to fill the void.
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