Passengers disembark from a Las Vegas to Southwest Airways flight at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California, on October 10, 2021. Southwest Airways canceled greater than 1,000 flights on Sunday, as a part of a significant weekend service disruption the provider blamed on inclement climate, its personal lack of air visitors management and out there employees.
Robin Beck | AFP | Getty Pictures
Southwest Airways has employed and educated 3,000 flight attendants thus far this yr, practically triple its document cabin crew member in 2018, the provider advised employees final week.
Southwest and different airways are nonetheless dashing to rent and practice workers to fulfill a rebound in journey demand, which executives count on to catch up this fall, led by robust vacation bookings. trigger occurs.
Airways have been barred from shedding workers throughout the COVID pandemic beneath the phrases of a $54 billion federal bailout, however have been allowed to supply workers prolonged go away of absence or early retirement.
Southwest stated it at present has greater than 62,000 full-time equal workers. This was up from 60,800 on the finish of 2019, earlier than the pandemic.
Southwest has additionally hosted three “hiring blitzes” at its company campus in Dallas, the place flight attendant candidates are interviewed, bodily efficiency requirements exams and different screenings with the potential for on-the-spot informal job affords. We do. One other is scheduled for this week, Southwest stated in an worker memo final week.
The provider advised workers it has 7,000 flight attendant candidates in its hiring pipeline and that its attrition fee amongst new cabin crew members has dropped to 2.5% in comparison with 6.1% in 2019.
The hiring spree comes as Southwest’s flight attendants union and administration are locked in contract negotiations. In response to the memo, talks with a federal mediator are scheduled to start in Dallas on November 1.
Flight attendants from Southwest and United Airways, represented by the Affiliation of Flight Attendants-CWA, are set to stage a sit-in at main airports Tuesday to demand higher working circumstances.
Individually on Monday, Southwest introduced that it’s selling its chief business officer, Andrew Watterson, to exchange COO Mike Van de Ven, who will develop into “government advisor” for the airline in 2023.
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