Jamie Patzer would have celebrated her 20-year anniversary at Spirit Airlines as a flight attendant on Friday. Now, she is a part of the 999 Las Vegas-area workers laid off by the company.

“I was supposed to work that evening,” said Patzer, 47, about the day Spirit ceased operations. “I was here with another flight attendant who was staying with me and we were both waiting to see what happened.”

Nadia Smith-Berry, 74, had the longest seniority as a flight attendant at the Harry Reid International Airport base with Spirit Airlines. Smith-Berry had been off since January recovering from a surgery, but she was preparing to go back to work in May; now, she’ll never fly with Spirit again.

“I enjoyed going to work. It gave me purpose,” said Smith-Berry. “Who’s gonna hire me at 74 years old?

On Wednesday, Smith-Berry visited Patzer’s house, which served as an unofficial crashpad for other flight attendants, to gather her things before returning home to Riverside, California.

Patzer and Smith-Berry are now left without jobs, and Patzer her final paycheck, as they navigate life going forward.

Beginning of the end

After midnight on May 2, Spirit Airlines ceased operations, abandoning its ticket counters at Reid Airport, stranding thousands of travelers and laying off 999 Las Vegas-area workers. Of that 999, 772 flight attendants were laid off.

“We regret that we are not able to give you more notice of our layoff,” Suzanne Solon, vice president of human resources for Spirit, said in a letter to state and local officials announcing the layoff. “We were not able to do so because the company was actively seeking capital to avoid these layoffs and closures and notice would have precluded the company from obtaining the capital needed.”

Patzer started working for Spirit Airlines at 28 years old, with her first base in Detroit. Then, she became a commuter when her base changed, which holds a different meaning for flight attendants. For around three years, she drove from her hometown in northern Michigan to Detroit, to then fly to her base in Florida.

Las Vegas became her final base around 15 years ago and she bought a home in Henderson in 2019.

Smith-Berry has been working for Spirit since 1999 and, according to her, was ranked No. 60 in seniority nationally. Her original base was Detroit before Las Vegas.

Patzer and Smith-Berry said they would play “good cop, bad cop” with passengers.

“I love messing with the passengers,” Smith-Berry joked.

Patzer said she would make six figures a year, especially with her seniority giving her the ability to pick up flights. Although, around two years ago that stopped, and last year was when she really felt the shift.

“We started noticing a change over a year ago with our routes,” said Patzer. “They were cutting routes, and they were cutting destinations.”

In October, Spirit ended service to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boise, Idaho; Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City; and Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and San Jose, California, after it filed for bankruptcy for a second time in 2025. These were routes Patzer thought were “bread and butter routes.”

Then, around December, Spirit cut overtime pay, said Patzer. At Spirit, hours were counted monthly, with overtime being made after 85 hours, so “it came pretty quickly,” said Patzer.

“I’m going to work and I’m just getting paid straight time,” said Patzer. “I’m gone more and on layovers. I’m away from home. I’m doing all these things I hadn’t done in years, and I’m making a lot less money doing it.”

She then became paycheck to paycheck.

Still, both didn’t believe the airline would shut down, despite months of speculation and years of decline.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Smith-Berry. “It’s like a funeral, like somebody died in my family.”

All work, no pay

Patzer has not received her final paycheck from Spirit Airlines and is unsure if she will. She has had no communication from the airline. To pay her mortgage next month, she started a GoFundMe, has applied for unemployment and is working towards medical benefits.

“I looked on the website, and normally we have a next pay date coming, and there’s no date there,” said Patzer. “The check on (May 15) would have been really important to make sure my mortgage is covered for this month.”

Patzer got 200% pay for some holiday work and other bonus benefits, and also has three weeks of vacation in her bank. She has heard no communication from Spirit Airlines about whether or not she’ll receive her last paycheck.

The Spirit Airlines flight attendant union, Association of Flight Attendants Local 73, she said, has been helpful in holding daily virtual calls and providing resources for new jobs, but there has been no news from it regarding unpaid wages.

The union did not get back for immediate comment on the matter.

Both plan to still apply within the industry, but nowadays, it’s not so simple. With many airlines struggling, like JetBlue, they fear even if they get hired they may get furloughed, and they may have to switch bases, which would be hard for Patzer who has a home in Henderson.

“With the economy and the gas prices and all that still on the rise, there’s a chance that even if you get a job as a flight attendant, you may not be able to keep it,” said Patzer.

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