United Airlines plans to reach total of 15,000 new hires by the end of the year

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  • Published on May 5, 2023
  • Last Updated June 8, 2023
  • In Culture

The airline is also looking to hire 50,000 workers by 2026.

Despite the anticipated busyness of the upcoming summer travel season, the current shortages among airlines is still persisting. United Airlines, however, is working to do its part in helping with the issue by hiring 15,000 new employees.

ABC News reports that the airline hired 7,000 new employees within the first four months of this year. In addition to these new hires, United Airlines plans to continue hiring employees throughout the year, bringing the total number of hires to 15,000. This would match the number of hires in 2022.

United is also looking toward the future, with plans to hire 50,000 workers by 2026.

“We are in hiring mode here at United Airlines,” said Kate Gebo, the company’s executive vice president of human resources.

The airline’s efforts come on the heels of what has been a concerning precursor to, what is anticipated to be, a busy summer travel season. Although the current demand for travel is high, the industry as a whole is having difficulty keeping up. As reported by Detour, the high demand for passports has caused extended delays. During a budget hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee in April, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called the demand “unprecedented.” Passport applications are currently taking anywhere from 10 to 13 weeks to process normally, or 7 to 9 weeks when expedited.

The demand for travel is also not congruent with the number of pilots and airline personnel. Detour reported that the FAA predicted that the New York area would only have 54 percent of the required amount of air traffic controller staffing, compared to the national level of 81 percent. Because this shortage has the potential to cause delays, American Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have all reduced the number of flights to New York.

The number of pilots continues to be a concern, hence the move by United, as over half of today’s working pilots are set to retire within the next 15 years and young pilots are not accounting for the ones aging out.

Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association says that airlines in 42 states have less service now than compared to before the pandemic, 136 airports lost at least one quarter of their service, and over 500 planes from regional airports do not have enough pilots to fly them.

Roshae Hemmings is an arts and culture magazine journalist from St. Louis, MO. A graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism, Roshae has bylines in the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazineand 5280 Magazinediscussing topics ranging from pop culture, social justice and eat and drink. She is a foodie at heart and enjoys eating food as much as learning about the story behind it. When she’s not working on a story, Roshae enjoys cooking, watching and analyzing reality TV, and spending time with family and friends.

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