While noticing recovery signs in passenger demand for the holiday travel season during summer 2021, American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) plans to bring back thousands of cabin crew who were on voluntary leave.
American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) has already asked around 3,300 flight attendants, who are currently on voluntary leave, to rejoin the airline. It also plans to hire around 800 new cabin crew by March 2022.
In addition to plans of adding a number of cabin crew, American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) also plans to hire 300 new pilots by the end of 2021. The amount of flight crew might be doubled in 2022.
„Increasing customer demand and new routes starting later this year mean we need more flight attendants to operate the airline,” American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) wrote in the letter seen by the media.
The company has observed bookings recovery as more vacationers are flying within the United States. Now, the carrier eyes on flying more than 90% of its 2019 domestic schedule during the summer season of 2021.
The American air carrier furloughed around 8,000 flight attendants in 2020 in order to cut costs during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of flight attendants were offered to temporarily take voluntary leave as a consequence. Meanwhile, hundreds of airline pilots have taken early retirement or were scheduled to quit flying in the coming years as they turn 65, the mandated retirement age for airline pilots in the US.
Due to staffing issues, the air carrier has even got in trouble. At the beginning of July 2021, it had to cancel hundreds of flights as it was struggling to deal with labor shortages coupled with a spike in demand when the United States continued to reopen borders and more travelers were eager to fly.
Judging by the amount of aircraft in storage, American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) might soon need pilots qualified to fly the Boeing 737-800, the Airbus A321-200, and the Airbus A319-100 planes. According to the Planespotters.com data, the airline currently has 44 Boeing 737-800s, 23 A321-200s, and 6 A319-100 jets in storage that might return to the skies in the coming months.