A flight attendant departs a Delta Airlines flight at Ronald Reagan National Airport on July 22, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia.
Michael A. McCoy | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to hire 1,500 flight attendants before the summer of 2022, the last carrier to add jobs after travel demand bounced from pandemic lows.
The Atlanta airline has already been in the process of filling 1,500 flight attendant jobs with candidates whose hiring was halted at the start of the 2020 pandemic.
Delta and other airlines have been competing for positions ranging from ramp workers to flight attendants to customer service agents this summer during an increase in travel as well as pilot training. Demand recovery was faster than what airline executives said they expected. Airline CEOs urged thousands of employees to take unpaid or partially paid leave of absence or early retirement packages to reduce labor costs at the bottom of the pandemic.
Airlines, like other U.S. airlines, face staffing problems, which lead to long periods of customer service and, in some cases, exacerbating flight delays or cancellations.
Southwest Airlines said last week that it is cutting its schedule until the end of the year to alleviate operational problems that caused hundreds of cancellations and delays this summer. The Dallas-based airline offers staffing $ 300 referral incentives as it struggles to fill open jobs.
CEO Gary Kelly told staff Monday that the airline has hired 1,500 people and aims to incorporate 5,200 employees by the end of November.
Delta in May said all new employees should be vaccinated against Covid and said Tuesday that any current Delta employee who is accepted into the flight attendant training program should also be inoculated.
Last week, Delta said unvaccinated employees will be charged an additional $ 200 a month for health insurance starting in November.