The Spirit pilots are 100% resolved to see a fair contract. They are the lowest paid in their industry segment and fly into some of the most dangerous airports.
It's not so easy to just go work somewhere else. The average Spirit Captain has 20 years of experience and between 15,000-20,000 hours. The average FO has 10 years of experience and between 8,000-12,000 hours. To get up and go somewhere else (if they were hiring) would mean starting all over at the lowest pay and lowest seniority. They won't do that. They all have plan B established. If the company locks them out and replaces them (which would take a very long time) they are prepared to move on. Good talent never has a problem landing a good job. Spirit is just forgetting to value its good talent.
Also impacted are the rest of the employees--all of whom are standing behind this strike.
Stock prices for JetBlue were speculating about this today. Investors were chomping at the bit hoping for people's livlihoods to be destroyed--nice.