STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with the strike at Spirit.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Spirit Airlines is still grounded. The discount carrier flies about 16,000 people per day - or actually, we should say they flew 16,000 people per day because right now, all flights are cancelled because of a pilot strike.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: About 450 pilots walked off the job this weekend. Spirit's aviators have wrangled with management for the last several years over pay issues. The pilots say they will not return to their cockpits until they get a contract that raises their pay and benefits to the same level as their counterparts at other discount airlines.
Thousands of passengers have been stranded after about 450 pilots for Spirit Airlines walked off the job this weekend. The pilots say they won't return to their cockpits until they get a contract that raises their pay and benefits to the same level as their counterparts at other discount airlines.