News Reports of ‘Airline Hiring Binge’ as Post-Pandemic Travel Recovers

As the domestic U.S. travel industry continues to recover quickly following the COVID-19 pandemic, many news outlets are reporting a large hiring spree by the airlines, including CNN and Business Insider.

All three of the largest U.S. carriers – American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines – have all announced that they are currently hiring, or plan to be by the end of the year, plus Southwest Airlines is also reported to be preparing it’s hiring process. Hawaiian Airlines also announced that it will be hiring over 400 new employees. This hiring will likely take place across each organization, with not just pilots being hired, but flight attendants, ramp agents and other operations staff as flights and passengers continue to increase.

These large airline carriers are increasing their hiring slightly more slowly than the Regional Airlines, almost all of which are currently hiring pilots, including AeroGuard partner SkyWest Airlines, who have also returned their $17,500 Tuition Reimbursement to attract great pilots for their future growth plans. Cargo airlines, such as UPS and FedEx also continue to hire having actually grown during the 2020 timeframe with an increase in demand for delivered goods.

This news comes days after TSA Passenger Throughput hit very close to 2 million passengers on Sunday June 6th, operating at 75% of the 2019 capacity, even without much of the international travel market.

Increased hiring demand from the airlines is expected to continue for many years to come with a forecasted pilot shortage of over 200,000 pilots in North America alone. While the steps that airlines made in 2020 were largely necessary, such as offering early retirement packages to their pilots, the effect of these actions is likely to be felt for years to come, increasing an already tight market for pilots.

Overall, the market for newly trained pilots is very beneficial to students looking to start their journey towards a very rewarding career, with salary and other benefits to match.