Spirit Airlines has canceled all Sunday flights as a result of its pilots walking off the job in a pay dispute on Saturday, and the airline has issued refunds to passengers in nationwide airports, including LaGuardia.The 440 pilots walked out of negotiations for pay raises on Saturday morning, disrupting flights for thousands of travelers.Spirit says it is refunding fares and giving out $100 credits toward future flights, but it is not putting passengers on other airlines’ flights.An Airline Pilots Association representative said the union had delayed the strike deadline twice after midnight Saturday to keep the airline running, and that Spirit’s pilots had worked at below market rates and faced substandard work rules for years.

For the last four years, the pilots have been trying to negotiate a contract in good faith with the company. The company has stalled and delayed for too long, said Spirit Airlines First Officer Bill Coogan. We’ve always wanted a fair contract, a fair agreement that’s going to put us on parity with other airlines, similar size, similar structure that are profitable also. And that’s what the pilots of this airline have always wanted and that’s what were striking for.Airline officials said they offered pay raises of more than 30 percent  totaling $70 million over five years  and a $3,000 signing bonus.

Spirit also offered to let the pilots keep a perquisite that it says no other contract has  a four-day break between each and every trip.Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza said that the pilots are disrupting thousands of our customers and jeopardizing the livelihoods of our over 2,000 employees.Passengers at LaGuardia were frustrated by the situation and said the rebates were not sufficient as they scrambled for other travel arrangements.I’m flying to Myrtle Beach. I cannot get a flight out and I’m stuck at the airport, said one traveler. I can’t even get home and I have my son, my seven-year-old son, and it’s our vacation. His vacation is ruined.Very upset. They should’ve booked us on another flight, said another traveler. We had to go running around, finding a different airline to get us home, and it cost me a lot more money.While pilots would not comment on details of the negotiations, they said the the chances of this strike ending anytime soon are slim.