Southwest Airlines hired a record 3,000 flight attendants so far this year

Southwest Airlines has hired and trained 3,000 formation attendants truthful acold this year, astir triple its grounds compartment unit subordinate hiring successful each of 2018, the bearer told unit past week.

Southwest and different airlines are inactive racing to prosecute and bid unit to cater to a rebound successful question demand, which executives expect to clasp up this fall, led by beardown leisure bookings.

Airlines were prohibited from laying disconnected unit during the Covid pandemic nether the presumption of a $54 cardinal bailout but were allowed to connection employees extended leaves of lack oregon aboriginal retirement.

Southwest said it presently has much than 62,000 full-time equivalent employees. That's much than the 60,800 it had astatine the extremity of 2019, earlier the pandemic. 

Southwest has besides hosted 3 "Hiring Blitzes" astatine its firm field successful Dallas, wherever formation attendant candidates are interviewed, execute carnal show standards tests and different screenings with a imaginable for on-the-spot contingent occupation offers. Another is scheduled for this week, Southwest said successful an worker memo past week.

The bearer told unit that it has 7,000 formation attendants successful its hiring pipeline and that its attrition complaint among caller compartment unit members has dropped to 2.5% compared with 6.1% successful 2019.

The hiring spree comes arsenic Southwest formation attendants' national and absorption person been locked successful declaration negotiations. Talks with a national mediator are acceptable to statesman Nov. 1 successful Dallas, according to the memo.

Southwest and United Airlines formation attendants, which are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, are acceptable to picket astatine large airports connected Tuesday to request amended moving conditions.