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.

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.

While pilots would not comment on details of the negotiations, they said the the chances of this strike ending anytime soon are slim.

(Source: NY1)