A dream come true for all pilot aspirants who are in the United States or who are eligible to work there as American Airlines is adding 1,350 new pilots by 2022. In fact, American Airlines has asked 3,300 employees to return to work. American Airlines has also hired 3,500 new employees this 2021 and is looking to add 350 more pilots this year.
Why is American Airlines expanding amidst the covid-19 pandemic
The U.S. did not just resort to lockdowns but learned how to balance safety and economic activities. One way is to vaccinate U.S. residents as quickly as possible. As such, more borders were open and the domestic travel sector in the United States greatly improved. All U.S.-based airlines are on the road to a quick recovery which include American Airlines.
American Airlines has also taken bold steps to reshape its operations with the goal of making it profitable once again. According to American’s Chairman and CEO Doug Parker, “We have reshaped our network, simplified our fleet and made our cost structure more efficient, all to create an airline that will outperform competitors and deliver for customers. The green flag has dropped and we are ready thanks to the tremendous efforts and dedication of the American Airlines team.”
American Airlines considered cutting capacity by 1% for July due to labor shortage
Due to labor shortages experienced in June 2021, American Airlines was considering to cut capacity by 1% this month. However, they lately announced that they plan to operate more than 150 new routes this summer, including several new destinations and greater connectivity in Miami, Austin, Texas, and Orlando, Florida. During the summer season, American Airlines expects to fly more than 90% of its domestic seat capacity and 80% of its international seat capacity, in each case as compared to 2019.
Despite the growth in air travel, American Airlines has not forgotten that safety is number one. They have launched COVID-19 testing tools to make flying safer and easier, including self-administered and packable home tests.
It is nice to see all these furloughed aviators flying once again. We hope the same thing would be experienced elsewhere including the Philippines.
American Airlines plans to hire 1,000 pilots and 800 more flight attendants in 2022.
