US airlines’ hiring spree has begun to slow after adding 194,000 employees since 2021. The industry, which was forced to lay off staff during the pandemic, faced significant manpower shortages as demand for air travel surged post-Covid.
Challenges for US Airlines
Airlines are now close to meeting their staffing needs, and the industry is facing a slew of challenges. This includes an oversupply of flights to the US, coupled by a slower demand growth, that has pushed down fares .
Expenses to operate US carriers have spiked by double-digit percentages since 2019. At American Airlines, expenses are running about 20% higher than before, excluding fuel and net interest costs.
This number gets worse for low-cost airlines like Spirit, Southwest and JetBlue due to flight length. Spirit is expected to have its numbers at 39%, Southwest at 32%, and JetBlue at almost 35%.
Additionally, Boeing’s recent quality issues also further complicate the situation. Production delays from both Boeing and Airbus are causing airlines to reconsider their expansion plans. And lastly, labor costs have spiked up as pilots and mechanics signed new contracts.
Hiring Spree Slows Down
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics numbers, air transportation employees are roughly the same in both August and July.
In some airlines like Spirit, the airline furloughed 186 pilots last August. That’s because of losses experienced by the airline after the failed acquisition by JetBlue.
Then, some airlines have reduced their workforce or slowed hiring to cut costs. Frontier, for instance, is still hiring pilots but offers voluntary leaves for both September and October. These are months with lower demand after the summer holidays. Its spokesperson said the periodic voluntary leaves are offered “when our staffing levels exceed our planned flight schedules.”
Southwest expects to have 2,000 fewer employees compared to 2023 and will stop hiring flight attendants and pilots. Southwest CFO Tammy Romo says that this trend is expected to continue in 2025.
United cites the late delivery of planes by Boeing for not hiring pilots at the moment. Although the company still plans to hire 10,000 more employees this year, this figure is lower than the 15,000 hired in 2022 and 2023.
While the numbers are dwindling, the number of students aspiring to become pilots is still high according to Ken Byrnes, chairman of the flight department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Byrnes said that “Demand for travel is still there.” He added, “I don’t see a long-term slowdown.”
