The pilots of Spirit Airlines, the airline that is expected to institute in August a fee of as much as $45 to place a carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, have walked out after three years of negotiations. The dispute is over pay and benefits. All flights for today have been canceled as a result of the Spirit Strike.

To add insult to injury for its passengers, Spirit Airlines will only offer credit on future flights and no cash refunds. However, to lessen the sting of the pain, Spirit is offering affected passengers a $100 Future Flight Credit in addition to full credit on what was paid for the canceled flight.

The nightmare of many Flyer Talkers appears to be coming true. I’m not referring to insane security processes (although that too is nightmarish and unfortunately getting worse) but rather an alliance of low cost airlines.  Is the Jetstar and Air Asia alliance the beginning of the end?