Pilot conducts detour before United Airlines flight takes off
Leslie Josephs/CNBC
U.S. passenger airlines have added nearly 194,000 jobs since 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, as companies continue a hiring spree after months of pandemic downturn. Now the industry is cooling off on hiring.
Airlines are getting closer to their staffing needs, but part of the economic slowdown is that they face a host of challenges.
A glut of U.S. flights has driven down fares and eroded airline profits. Demand growth is slowing. The flight is delayed from boeing company and Airbus, prompting the airline to reconsider its expansion. Engines were in short supply. Some airlines are delaying aircraft deliveries entirely. Labor costs have risen after groups including pilots and mechanics signed new contracts with the first major pay increases in years.
The average annual salary for a three-year first officer on medium-duty equipment at American Airlines was $170,586 in March, up from $135,896 in 2019, according to Kit Darby, an aviation consultant who specializes in pilot compensation.
U.S. airlines’ costs have climbed by double-digit percentages since 2019. Excluding fuel and net interest expense, they would have risen about 20% American Airlines This year, both are up about 28% United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Starting in 2019, Raymond James airline analyst Savanthi Syth said.
This is even more pronounced among low-cost airlines. Southwest Airlines‘Costs may rise by 32%, JetBlue Airways” up nearly 35% and spirit airlines Syth estimates the increase over the same period will be closer to 39%, with its figures adjusted for flight length.
Relax recruitment
U.S. employment status on Friday The report showed that air transport employment in August was roughly the same as in July.
But there have been some pullbacks. In the most serious scenario, Spirit Airlines furloughed 186 pilots this month as the airline’s acquisition by JetBlue Airways failed, its union said Sunday. The losses continued to mount. Pratt & Whitney Engine recalls and oversupply in the US market. Last year, even before the merger fell through, it offered an employee buyout program.
Other airlines are relaxing hiring or finding other ways to cut costs.
Frontier Airlines It is still recruiting pilots but said it will offer voluntary leave in September and October as demand typically drops after the summer vacation and before Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. A spokesperson for the airline said it provides these leaves “on a regular basis” “when our staffing levels exceed our planned flight schedule”.
Southwest expects to end the year with 2,000 fewer employees than in 2023 and said earlier this year it would stop recruiting classes for job groups that include pilots and flight attendants. Chief Financial Officer Tammy Romo said on an earnings call in July that the company’s headcount could decrease again in 2025 as attrition levels exceed the Dallas-based airline’s “controlled hiring levels.”
United AirlinesThe company, which paused pilot hiring in May and June, citing late arrivals from Boeing planes, said it planned to add 10,000 employees this year, down from 15,000 a year in 2022 and 2023. of more than 2,300 pilot years.
That’s a change from previous years, when airlines couldn’t recruit workers fast enough. U.S. airlines typically add pilots because federal law requires pilots to retire at age 65.
Airlines cut tens of thousands of jobs in 2020 as they tried to stem record losses. The more than $50 billion taxpayer aid package passed to help the industry through its worst crisis on record prohibits layoffs, but many employees have accepted repeated offers of buyouts and voluntary furloughs from airlines.
Travel demand subsequently rebounded faster than expected and climbed sharply in 2022, causing airlines to lose experienced staff such as customer service agents. This has also led to the worst pilot shortage in recent years.
In response, companies — especially regional airlines — offered huge bonuses to attract pilots.
But times have changed. Even air cargo giants have competed for pilots in recent years, but demand has waned fedex and ups Looking to cut costs.
American Airlines The airline added about 2,300 pilots last year and expects to hire about 1,300 pilots this year, Chief Executive Robert Isom said in a March investor presentation.
“We will be recruiting at this level for the foreseeable future,” he said at the time.
Ken Burns, chair of the flight department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said that despite the lower goals, students continue to fill classrooms and cockpits to receive training and accumulate time to become pilots.
“The demand for travel is still there,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be a long-term slowdown.”
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