by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:45 AM ET, Fri February 14, 2020
Spirit Airlines announced it is shifting its Operational Control Center (OCC) from Florida to Tennessee as part of an $11 million investment project.
The low-cost carrier announced Thursday it would move around 240 employees from its current OCC in Miramar, Florida, to a new 49,000-square-foot facility in Williamson County, Tennessee.
Spirit officials said they plan to add around 100 jobs at the new OCC over the next five years, with the transition scheduled to be completed by early 2021. The change was made to avoid hurricane and tropical storm risk, while also bolstering network resiliency.
"We are committed to our South Florida community, and Florida's Hometown Airline will continue to create new jobs by supporting our international network and fleetwide training needs from our Broward County home," Spirit CEO Ted Christie said in a statement.
"At the same time, we look forward to building on our plans for future expansion and protecting our growing 24/7 operation by starting this new chapter in Nashville," Christie continued.
The airline's OCC controls flight operations for more than 650 flights each day across the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Employees are responsible for flight dispatch, crew scheduling, maintenance control, aircraft routing, air traffic control coordination, passenger solutions and more.
Around 700 of Spirit's Miramar-based employees will move into the airline's new corporate headquarters when it opens near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2022.
The carrier also plans to add 225 positions at the new headquarters to support expanding domestic and international operations.
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