Airlines are preparing to hire thousands of new employees this year in anticipation of a busy summer travel season, which will boost the employment market after layoffs in the technology sector and upheaval in the financial sector.
According to a statement released by United Airlines on Wednesday, the airline hired 7,000 new employees in the first four months of this year and expects to add 15,000 more people by year’s end, matching the amount it did in 2017.
United anticipates growing its staff from 93,000 at the beginning of this year to 50,000 by 2026.
Kate Gebo, the company’s senior vice president of human resources, told reporters, “We are in hiring mode here at United Airlines.” The airline officials claimed they already had enough pilots to run the busiest summer schedule.
Since being caught understaffed when air travel recovered more quickly than expected from the pandemic’s depths, airlines have been on a hiring spree.
Flight cancellation and delay rates increased last year, partly due to a shortage of pilots and flight attendants.
The nation’s passenger airlines were not allowed to make layoffs despite receiving $54 billion in federal funds to keep employees on the payroll during the pandemic. Instead, they paid employees to resign or accept early retirement to get around the rule.
The number of jobs in the airline business has increased by more than 117,000 (32% more) since November 2020, reaching more than 480,00 as of this February, according to the most recent data from the Transportation Department—a 5% increase.
Although CEO Ed Bastian stated that the airline had hired nearly 20,000 people since the beginning of 2021, Delta Air Lines hasn’t revealed its hiring plans for 2023.
Southwest Airlines had planned to hire 7,000 people this year, but officials announced last week that they would lower that number since the carrier hasn’t gotten as many brand-new Boeing aircraft as they had anticipated.
Some of United’s new personnel will take the place of retiring staff. United executives said they plan to hire 2,300 pilots this year and expect 250 to 300 to retire — federal law requires airline pilots to retire by age 65.
Smaller, so-called regional airlines operating flights for larger carriers under the United Express, American Eagle, and Delta Connection brand names have experienced a significant pilot shortage.
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