Major Airlines Recall Thousands of Pilots Back to Work
Following the pandemic, the airline industry is still showing great signs of recovery faster than anyone anticipated. With news of airlines increasing their fleets, TSA showing record passenger numbers since the pandemic began, and most regional airlines hiring pilots once more, the great news continues with many of the major airline carriers. Over the last few weeks, major airline carriers are now starting to recall thousands of pilots back to work as surges in airline travel have begun around the country.
Last month, Alaska Airlines recalled more than 400 pilots that had been placed on a leave of absence.
Southwest Airlines has also stated that they will return their 209 pilots from voluntary leave by June 1st.
United Airlines notified its staff that it will be hiring 300 new pilots starting with those who either had a new hire class date that was cancelled, or who had a 2020 conditional job offer.
Over Easter weekend, Delta Airlines had to cancel around 100 flights due to a shortage of active pilots. This is actually the second time in 6 months that Delta has been forced to cancel flights due to an insufficient number of pilots. Because of this, Delta has now recalled 1,713 pilots. CEO Ed Bastian shared last week that the company’s outlook for the spring and summer travel season is continuing to improve.
While American Airlines has yet to announce any returns of pilots, they do expect to return most of its fleet back in service in the second quarter which means pilot announcements are sure to come soon in order to staff those planes.