Spirit Airlines, Inc.

Welcome to the third quarter 2021 conference call. My name is James, and I'll be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. During the Q&A session, if you have a question, please press star 1 on your phone. And I'd now like to turn the call over to Deanne Gable, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Deanne, you may begin.

Thank you, James, and welcome, everyone, to Spirit Airlines' third quarter 2021 earnings call. This call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast. A replay of this call will be archived on our website for 60 days. Presenting on today's call are Ted Christie, Spirit's Chief Executive Officer, Matt Klein, our Chief Commercial Officer, and Scott Harrelson, our Chief Financial Officer. Also joining us in the room today are other members of our senior leadership team. Following our prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session for sell-side analysts. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on the company's current expectations and are not a guarantee of future performance. There could be significant risks and uncertainties that cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements, including the risk factors discussed in our reports on file with the SEC. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statements. In comparing results today, we will be adjusting all periods to exclude special items. please refer to our third quarter 2021 earnings release, which is available on our website, for the reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures. With that, I turn the call over to Ted.

Thanks, Deanne. Thanks to everyone for joining us today. Over the past 18 months, our SPIRIT team members have proven time and time again that they are the best in the business. Third quarter 2021 started off very strong, with July being solidly profitable. Unfortunately, our own irregular operation in August, together with a surge of Delta variant cases, led to a third-quarter loss of $74.6 million. Higher fuel prices, continued travel restrictions, and near-term staffing issues have all played their part in delaying our return to sustained profitability. The direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic have lasted longer than anyone could have predicted. It may take some time for the industry to adjust to the near-term challenges, but nothing about the current environment changes our long-term view for Spirit. As we've indicated previously, One of our challenges has been staffing levels at our airports, with the most notable being at Fort Lauderdale Airport. I'm pleased to announce that earlier this month, we reached a tentative agreement with our ramp service agents in Fort Lauderdale, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which includes competitive wages and benefits. And following ratification of that agreement, we look forward to resuming appropriate staffing levels and, over time, adding back capacity to one of our guests' favorite leisure destinations. I'm also pleased to say that we recently published our inaugural sustainability report. The report showcases our commitment to meaningful advancements of our ESG initiatives. Before I turn it over to Matt and Scott to discuss more details of our quarterly performance, I want to say how proud I am of the SPIRIT team. Operationally, it was an unusually challenging summer, and their spirit, pride, and dedication shined, even on the most challenging days, and helped us recover the operation and take care of our guests. And now over to Matt.