Delta Will Hire 1,000 More Pilots in the Next Year

Delta Air Lines on Monday said it plans to hire more than 1,000 pilots over the next year to help deal with the ‘perfect storm’ that has hit the aviation industry – a quicker-than-expected return to travel coupled with a shortage of workers.

Delta told staff that it expects to make the hires by the summer of 2022, according to CNBC.

“This is exciting news both for the pilots looking to join Delta and those of you already on the seniority list because it means career progression opportunities as we continue our recovery, account for scheduled pilot retirements and position for network expansion,” John Laughter, Delta’s head of operations, said in a memo seen by CNBC.

The carrier is planning for a continued recovery in air travel and to avoid staffing problems. Delta canceled hundreds of flights over Thanksgiving and Christmas because it didn’t have enough pilots ready to fly.

But the problem persists, and for all airlines. American Airlines was forced to cancel more than 300 flights just this past weekend and said it will likely keep canceling flights into July because of a lack of workers.

Delta said it would not only resume hiring this month but was also hiring 13 crew schedulers and a supervisor to answer pilot calls and questions.