A rare observation in the aviation industry in the last year is becoming more frequent: signs of help.
Several US airlines have recently resumed hiring pilots or are planning until this year, the latest sign that the industry expects travel demand to continue to grow.
Prior to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, airlines were preparing for a wave of pilot withdrawals, which are mandated at the federal level when pilots reach the age of 65. the next decade. But diving into travel last year forced them to cut labor costs, which included offering early retirement packages to pilots.
Now, as the demand for travel returns, they turn their attention back to employment. Training for pilots can be time consuming and expensive. So airlines generally plan years in advance so that they can have enough pilots to cope with the peak seasons of summer travel.
United told employees last week that it intends to resume piloting, starting with about 300 pilots who had a new date of employment or a conditional job offer when Covid-19 derailed those plans last year.
He also said he intends to start training first class at his flight school this year, with the aim of training 5,000 of the 10,000 pilots he expects to need in the next decade.
Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways said in a message to 200 pilot candidates who interviewed New York Airlines in 2019 and 2020 that the carrier is taking steps to begin hiring new pilots later this year.
Budget carrier Spirit Airlines resumed training for 24 new pilots last month and plans to train a similar number in April, a spokesman said. Another low-cost airline, Allegiant Air, said Tuesday that it plans to open a new base in Austin, Texas and will “immediately begin hiring pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground staff to support operations.”
The regional company owned by American Airlines, PSA Airlines, has opened its employment to external candidates.
“The hiring needs are due to the natural wear and tear and increased use of our fleet of CRJ 700 and CRJ 900 aircraft this year,” a spokeswoman said.
And Avelo Airlines, a new US company that debuted on Thursday, said it will start operating with 37 pilots, but could add more as it expands.
Demand for air travel has improved since the depths of the pandemic a year ago. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said last week that domestic demand for leisure had recovered almost completely, while American Airlines said net bookings for the week ending March 26 were down just 10%. compared to the same period in 2019.
Airlines are generally reluctant to fly pilots because their training takes so long and they have instead resorted to voluntary separation, temporary leave or early retirement programs. But carriers also received three rounds of $ 54 billion in government aid banning unintentional job cuts, with the first round coming at the start of the pandemic.
Airline ranks are based on seniority, and discounts would start with the youngest members. Airline executives said the aid would allow them to be better prepared to capitalize on a recovery.
Helane Becker, an airline analyst at Cowen & Co., said travel demand came back faster and more energetically than expected.
If it hadn’t kept those employees, the airlines “would have been very poorly prepared and the recovery would have taken longer,” Becker said.
Without early help, the airlines would probably have been accompanied by a lot of junior pilots before the next wave of the most experienced retirees.
For some carriers, the recent recovery in demand for air transport has meant a change in plans. Delta Air Lines said it had about 100 cancellations on Easter Sunday due to a lack of staff, a problem it faced on Thanksgiving Day.
Delta said it had briefly removed the capacity limits of some flights to accommodate passengers, a step it did not intend to take until next month. Some pilots were asked if they could take last-minute shifts over the weekend.
Delta earlier this year said it intended to bring all its pilots back to work. Earlier this month, the airline said it would allow pilots to bid for new positions, with some moving to captain or changing planes.
Delta expects to close the tender “with approximately 350 non-unit positions, creating opportunities for future employment,” wrote Bob Schmelzer, Delta’s director for crew resource planning, analysis and reporting, in an April 1 staff note.
Meanwhile, on April 1, Southwest Airlines called back 209 long-leaf pilots to cope with rising demand. They will return to work on June 1 after completing the retraining course.