United Airlines to hire hundreds of pilots for its travel recovery plans

United Airlines will start hiring pilots again as it prepares to start its travel recovery plans. Most carriers suffered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the industry is trying to restore the business that had always been vibrant until the global crisis hit last year.

The announcement of hiring

As per Reuters, as part of its recovery efforts, United Airlines will hire around 300 pilots as people are starting to travel again. This is just the initial number, and the airline will be adding more when the demand grows further.

Scott Kirby, the United Airlines CEO, said via the U.S. aviation summit that was held on Wednesday, March 31, that domestic leisure travel demand has almost fully recovered. The number of Americans who travel has gone up, and they said this happened as more people get COVID-19 vaccination.

In any case, the hiring of pilots was announced through a company memo that was posted for staff to see. It was revealed that since September of last year, almost 1,000 United Airline pilots have retired while others have signed up in the voluntary leave programs due to the pandemic; thus, the company needs new pilots.

UA resumes job recruitment

The carrier will be hiring pilots who had a new hire class date that was canceled or was given a conditional job offer in 2020. They are the ones who already applied last year, but their hiring process was halted at the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

As United Airlines resumes the hiring process of pilots, it has become the first major carrier to do so. This move is also being viewed as a turning point in the pandemic since it has dampened the travel industry in a big way.

In fact, CNBC reported that airlines in the U.S. suffered a $35 billion loss as bookings were canceled and everyone stopped traveling. But now, with the public getting vaccinated, they feel more at ease to get on planes.

“With vaccination rates increasing and travel demand trending upwards, I’m excited to share that United will resume the pilot hiring process that was halted last year,” United’s senior vice president of flight operations, Bryan Quigley, wrote in the memo that was seen by CNBC.