The Spirit Airlines strike ended late Wednesday after company officials reached an agreement with pilots, who begin flying Friday.

Spirit initially promised that it would find a way to continue flying even in the case of a pilot strike, but were unable to prepare adequately and passengers ended up stranded after the strike began last Saturday. Flights for Thursday were already canceled before the deal was reached, and Spirit travelers marooned by the strike will have to wait until Friday to fly.

Those who couldn’t wait say they weren’t compensated adequately by the airline, and complain of receiving vouchers that they couldn’t use with other airlines. Many were forced to pay high rates for last-minute tickets with other carriers, or rent cars to get to their destination.

“We apologize,” CEO Ben Baldanza reportedly told customers who were stranded. “We did the best we could to re-accommodate. We tried to arrange other services for customers where we could,” and the airline refunded tickets when it couldn’t get them on another flight, he said.

Spirit Airlines is a private carrier based in Miramar, Fla., and flies to destinations along the East Coast as well as to the Caribbean and Latin America. Roughly 16,000 people fly with Spirit daily, about 1 percent of the nation’s market.

The strike came after more than three years of negotiations with the company, with pilots complaining about inadequate pay and six-day work weeks that prevented them from going home.

Spirit Airlines asks all passengers to refer to their website http://www.spiritair.com for details on Friday flights.

(Source: WPIX)