United Airlines continues hiring spree

After a Job Fair earlier this month at its main hub in Chicago, United Airlines this week continued a hiring spree as it looks to close the gap on a staffing shortage that has plagued the entire industry.

The goal is to get ahead of the next wave of air travelers that will come shortly. Traffic is beginning to wane now that summer is ending and school has beckoned, but it’s only two short months until the winter holiday season is upon airlines – and another surge is expected of people who haven’t seen friends and family for Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and New Year’s in more in two years.

United was hoping to hire hundreds of more new employees with the latest recruitment effort. This after making nearly 1,000 hires at its event two weeks ago.

“We have 500 new airplanes coming to United Airlines over the next few years. That’s an airplane every three or four days for us, so we need folks to help work those aircraft,” Omar Iris, United Airlines vice president of the carrier’s O’Hare International Airport, told ABC7 Eyewitness News in Chicago.

Available openings ranged from gate and ramp agent, flight attendant, aircraft tech, and customer service, among other positions.

The big Job Fair came just a day after American Airlines announced it was cutting 31,000 flights from its November schedule due to staffing shortages.

“Air travel has become unpredictable and airlines know that it’s slowing down the recovery, and that’s why getting more staff, these big hiring fairs, are a big thing right now,” Prof. Joe Schwieterman, DePaul University transportation expert, told the TV station.