New York ( CNN ) -- Spirit Airlines reached a tentative agreement with its pilots on Wednesday that will end the five-day-old strike that halted the airline 's operations , a union official said . Pilots will return to work and Spirit 's operations will resume on Friday , the airline said on its website . `` Our pilots worked hard to get a mutually favorable deal that allows the company to grow while improving their wages and benefits , '' said Ben Baldanza , president and CEO of Spirit . The tentative agreement was reached around 1 p.m. Wednesday , according to Capt . Sean Creed , chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association at Spirit . `` It does move closer to the goals that we established for our pilot group and we will move forward with taking it to our pilots for a ratification vote , '' Creed told CNN . Spirit 's 440 pilots walked off the job Saturday morning after an ongoing dispute with the airline over the pilot 's pay level . `` Our co-pilots were making significantly below the industry standard , '' Creed explained . The walkout completely grounded the airline . Flights were abruptly cancelled for several days leaving customers scrambling to make other travel arrangements . In effort to make amends with passengers Spirit is offering customers a coupon for $ 50 off their next flight between June 18 and November 17 and 5,000 free Spirit bonus miles . `` We apologize to those customers whose travel was disrupted as a result of the strike and look forward to earning their trust with ultra-low fares , great service and the best pilots in the sky , '' Baldanza said in a statement .
Spirit will resume operations Wednesday , company 's website says . Pilots ' union official says deal reached Friday around 1 p.m. . Spirit 's 440 pilots walked off job Friday after ongoing dispute over pay . Customers left to scramble for other arrangements .