With the recent improvements and developments both within the company and COVID-19 situation, American Airlines will be hiring 18,000 this 2022 according to a CNBC article from December 14 which reports,
“American Airlines is planning to hire 18,000 workers in 2022, on top of thousands of new employees this year to cater to a rebound in travel, CEO Doug Parker plans to tell lawmakers during a hearing about flight disruptions in recent months.
Now they are scrambling to add workers as travel demand returns, competing in a tight labor market that has impacted retailers, restaurants, hotels and other industries.
American, which has about 130,000 employees including its regional airline subsidiaries, has hired more than 16,000 employees this year, such as pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and reservations agents, Parker said in written testimony ahead of the hearing.
However, before the American reached this point, it, together with other different airlines, has been severely affected by the pandemic that brought significant losses within the airline industry and the company according to a Dallas Morning News article from December 14 which reports,
“American Airlines and others furloughed more than 17,000 employees in late 2020, and American cut its administrative ranks by thousands as well as the airline tried to offset deep losses from the drop in flying during the pandemic.
Despite the government aid, American still lost $8.9 billion in 2020, although it managed to swing small profits in the second and third quarters of this year due to the stimulus payments.
Airline passenger numbers remain 10% to 20% below pre-pandemic levels, according to industry trade group Airlines 4 America, but the airline sector also has about 28,000 fewer jobs than it did at this time in 2019, including 10,000 fewer jobs at American Airlines.
American, Southwest and others encouraged thousands of workers to take buyout and early retirement packages to shrink payroll costs without officially laying off any employees. Other employees took leave of up to 18 months, and the last of those employees are only now coming back from their voluntary time away.”
In the coming days, the CEO of American Airlines, Doug Parker, together with the other CEOs of different airline companies will be facing the senate and congress for questions regarding the current situation of the industry.
