...These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members."
In other words, if Spirit's customers can not fly they will get so aggressive that they will threaten and attack and company employees. They sound like lovely customers to me. Does this also mean that Spirit's pilots have to consider the safety of ground staff when deciding to accept an aircraft with deficiencies or depart in marginal weather? It sounds like they need danger money to fly these passengers.
Regarding the race to the bottom, it will be the company with the best ability to raise cash when the economy it serves takes its next inevitable nose dive. And that will not necessarily be the most profitable airline at the moment. People who buy on price have no allegiance to their supplier. They go where they believe things are cheapest and chop and change at a whim. Employees and suppliers of these companies will do the same. Their loyalty lasts until the next pay check. I stand to be corrected, but we need an economic crisis to prove me right. I don't fancy one of those at the moment.