Delta Air Lines has said it plans to hire another 1,500 flight attendants ahead of summer 2022, becoming the latest carrier to add jobs after travel demand bounced back from pandemic lows.
The Atlanta-based airline was already in the process of filling 1,500 flight attendant jobs with candidates whose hiring had stalled at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis.
Delta and other airlines have been racing to fill positions from ramp workers to flight attendants to customer service agents, as well as pilots, this summer. Airline CEOs had urged thousands of employees to take unpaid or partially paid leaves of absence or early retirement packages to cut labor costs in the depths of the pandemic. Yet the recovery in demand came faster than airline executives said they expected.
Southwest Air Lines said last week it is trimming its schedule through the end of the year to ease operational problems that led to hundreds of cancellations and delays this summer. The airline is offering its staff referral incentives worth $300 as it struggles to fill open jobs.
CEO Gary Kelly told staff on Monday that the airline has hired 1,500 people and has a goal of adding 5,200 employees by the end of November.
