Spirit Airlines CEO calls flight cancellations a 'gut punch'

Things will get worse for Spirit Airlines before they get better according to the airline's CEO as the airline cancels hundreds of flights for a fifth straight day.

The airline canceled 260 flights as of 10 a.m. on Friday morning including 7 in/out of Atlantic City, 18 in/out of Newark and 12 in/out of Philadelphia. Over 1,700 flights have been canceled since Sunday.

"All I can say is we’re very sorry for what’s happened. This is a gut punch to everyone," CEO Ted Christie told Marketwatch.

Christie told USA Today the past few days have not been the airline's proudest moments but believes the pieces of a complex puzzle are starting to come together.

It was bad weather that left crews scattered around the country out of hours to work and planes out of position which meant no slack in the system, Christie told USA Today. There was no choice but to cancel flights because the airline couldn't get in front of all the problems.

In retrospect Christie told USA Today they should have canceled more flights earlier instead of still trying to fly.

The next challenge for Spirit will be to rebuild trust with fliers Christie told CBS News.

Spirit Airlines is the only commercial airline that serves Atlantic City.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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