Summary
- Delta Air Lines plans to decelerate pilot hiring in 2024, signaling a shift from the hiring rush seen post-pandemic.
- The airline expects to rent around half the variety of pilots in comparison with 2023.
- The industry-wide pilot shortage has prompted airlines to research operations and find recent ways to draw and retain talent.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is reportedly planning to decelerate pilot hiring in 2024, indicating that the carrier’s post-pandemic hiring rush could also be of the past. It comes because the industry has suffered from an ongoing pilot shortage since pandemic restrictions began to ease nearly three years ago.
Airlines have also faced pilots demanding recent contracts with higher pay. At the very least 4 major US carriers reached recent bargaining agreements in 2023, with Southwest Airlines as the most recent – offering a pay raise of fifty% for its pilots.
Decreasing by around half
In accordance with Skift, Delta said it plans to rent fewer pilots in 2024 in comparison with recent years. The airline expects to onboard just over 1,000 pilots this 12 months, around half of the quantity hired in 2023. With a record amount of passengers taking to the skies yearly because the pandemic, airlines have needed more pilots to deal with the demand.
Photo: Spyros Vasileiou | Shutterstock
Roughly 13,000 pilots were reportedly hired across the industry in 2022, and the identical number was on target for 2023. Between January and November, nearly 12,000 recent pilots were hired by 13 US airlines, in keeping with Future & Energetic Pilot Advisors (FAPA.aero).
Restoring the operation
A Delta spokesperson commented on the airline’s 2024 hiring plans in a press release obtained by Skift.
“Delta’s 2024 hiring projections are representative of a continued healthy and robust demand for pilots. What we anticipate for the approaching 12 months is a really strong, yet more normalized, growth pattern that’s reflective of Delta’s full operational restoration post-pandemic and continued deal with industry leadership.”
The airline also reportedly remarked that onboarding greater than 1,000 pilots remains to be a high number for a serious airline. Citing the pandemic for the weird hiring patterns across the industry, the carrier said that such hiring couldn’t proceed open-ended.
Photo: Delta Air Lines
Delta welcomed greater than 2,200 pilots in 2023, in keeping with FAPA.aero. January saw the best variety of pilots at greater than 300, but there was also increased hiring throughout spring and summer. Hiring was still up in September and November, but it surely had decreased from previous months.
Delta Air Lines Pilot Hiring Figures (2023) |
||
---|---|---|
Month |
Amount |
|
January |
302 |
|
February |
188 |
|
March |
205 |
|
April |
220 |
|
May |
224 |
|
June |
236 |
|
July |
186 |
|
August |
229 |
|
September |
143 |
|
October |
205 |
|
November |
145 |
|
December |
TBD |
|
TOTAL: 2,283 |
Why is there a pilot shortage?
The shortage of pilots across the industry has prompted airlines to research their operations closely, find ways to draw recent talent, and retain pilots already employed. With inadequacies, relatively small disruptions may very well be the recipe for disaster as Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific canceled over 50 flights throughout the vacation weekend attributable to crew illnesses.
Last month, Southwest Airlines became the most recent carrier within the US to supply a competitive contract for its pilots; nevertheless, it got here after reports of some pilots leaving the low-cost airline for larger carriers. While the pilot scarcities might have been blamed on long negotiating periods, several pilots reached their required retirement age of 65, forcing them to depart from their carriers – an age mandate that some pilots have been fighting to lift.