Digital logbook service offers free help to pilots left jobless by Spirit collapse

Pilots who lost their jobs when Spirit Airlines shut down earlier this year are getting help sorting out their flight records from a digital logbook provider.

AIROS, a company that offers cloud-based tools for consolidating and verifying pilot logbooks, said it decided in May to waive fees for former Spirit pilots for six months. According to the company's founder and chief executive, David Spektor, the decision came from wanting to support pilots suddenly out of work without asking them to pay for services during their job search.

Spektor said the company absorbed the cost of the free offer, hoping it would pay off through goodwill over time. He described the response from affected pilots as significant.

Unlike spreadsheets or paper records, AIROS automatically retrieves details such as aircraft tail numbers and calculates flight time categories, including night and cross-country hours. It presents the information in a format that meets airline hiring standards, the company said. Records are stored in the cloud rather than on paper or individual devices, which cuts the risk of loss or damage.

Spektor said the platform also flags inconsistencies or errors as pilots enter data, a feature he said goes beyond what competing digital logbook products offer. A spreadsheet allows any entry without safeguards, he said, while AIROS checks information in real time to protect users from mistakes that could compromise the accuracy of their records.

Accurate logbooks matter for pilots seeking new positions, since they are the primary documentation of a pilot's flight experience during hiring reviews.