It is a tumultuous time for the American aviation industry. Weeks after a mid-air plane collision in Washington, D.C. caused the deaths of 67 people, the Trump administration began firing hundreds of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees.
This has prompted safety concerns for both industry workers and everyday flyers. David Spero, head of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union, described the move as “shameful” and claimed that the firings would “increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin,” per the BBC. Additionally, Axios reported that searches for “is it safe to fly” have spiked since Trump’s inauguration.
The FAA claims that the agency “has retained employees who perform safety-critical functions” and that it “continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them,” according to the BBC.
Despite this, some Americans are finding their travel plans interrupted, as recently claimed by TikTok user Giselle (@poodieswetter) in a video with over 1.2 million views.
Why did this flight get canceled?
In her video, Giselle explains why she’s recording from Boston despite being scheduled on a Spirit Airlines flight to Atlanta.
“So they board us on the plane and we’re sitting there chilling. It’s been 30 minutes, we’re thinking we’re gonna take off,” she recalls. “The plane people are telling us we don’t have a pilot to take us nowhere and that we have to get off the plane.”
After disembarking the plane, Giselle says she began to ask people why her flight was so heavily delayed.
“I just found out that pilots are going on strike because planes keep flying out of the sky,” she states.
While she says she understands this behavior, she questions why the airline would have the passengers board if they knew there wasn’t going to be a pilot.
“I’m finna pray, and I’m finna book another airline,” she details. “Because, [expletive], Spirit’s tripping, all the other airlines is falling off the sky—like, y’all better please pray for me, ‘cause there’s some real [expletive] going on right now.”
Are Spirit Airlines pilots really going on strike?
In an email to the Daily Dot, a Spirit Airlines spokesperson confirmed that pilots for the company are not currently on strike.
While numerous users on X have reported no-show pilots in the past month for Spirit Airlines, it is unclear if this is an increase over previous months, nor is it clear that this behavior has any connection to the recent in-flight incidents or the cuts made by the Trump administration to the FAA.
Additionally, data from the NTSB shows that there were actually more plane incidents between Jan. 1, 2024 and Feb. 21, 2024 than compared to the same time this year.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Spirit Airlines via email for clarification.
@poodieswetter Yall be safe out there #fyp #plane #spiritairlines #304 #304tiktok #atlanta #boston #trump #strike ♬ original sound – poodieswetter
‘Ain’t no way.’
In the comments section, users shared their worries about the present state of flying in the United States.
“My sons a pilot and he lost GPS signal. He said it’s a scary time right now,” claimed a user.
“Yeah, pilots are privy to information we don’t have access to. So if they refusing to get on that plane, so should we,” alleged another.
“Ain’t no way I would still got on a plane after finding out that info,” stated a third.
We’ve reached out to Giselle via Instagram and TikTok DM.
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