British Airways to Boost Workforce

British Airways wants its piece of the expected travel rebound.

To ensure that, the international carrier said this week it plans to hire 4,000 workers across the board – from pilots to cabin crew to non-aircraft staff – by the summer of 2022, when travel is fully expected to reach 2019 levels after struggling through the pandemic.

“We’re actively recruiting,” Chief Executive Officer Sean Doyle told Bloomberg News Service. “It’s exciting to be rebuilding the airline and to be creating opportunities again after two years where we haven’t been able to fly much.”

In that respect, BA is very much like its U.S. aviation counterparts, most of which are also actively engaged in replenishing their respective staffs. Many airlines cut workers through retirement, buyout offers, layoffs and attrition – and several have paid the price as staff shortages have been a contributing factor to delays and cancellations.

But now, as air travel has rebounder much quicker than originally anticipated, many airlines find themselves in a hiring spree.

Doyle told Bloomberg that British Airways cut about 10,000 jobs over the last 18 months and currently employs about 30,000 people.

An addition of 4,000 workers would certainly be a boost, but BA will find itself in competition with numerous carriers also looking to add thousands of workers. That is particularly true of what many expect to be a significant pilot shortage coming to the industry more sooner than later.

Bloomberg noted that BA reached agreement last week on an addition $1.4 billion line of credit to guard against any further issues from the COVID-19 virus.