United Airlines tells staff it’s hiring hundreds of pilots next month as carrier plans for a travel recovery

United Airlines on Thursday advised staff it’s going to quickly start hiring hundreds of pilots — a course of the airline was pressured to halt when coronavirus pandemic devastated travel demand final yr, based on an inside electronic mail reviewed by CNBC.

The Chicago-based airline is the primary of the big U.S. carriers to announce it’s going to resume pilot hiring, the most recent signal it’s getting ready for a recovery. For the previous yr, airways, together with United, have urged 1000’s of employees to take buyouts, early retirement packages and leaves of absence as they raced to chop prices through the pandemic.

U.S. airways collectively misplaced $35 billion final yr however count on a regular rise in bookings as extra of the general public is vaccinated and feels extra snug getting on planes.

“With vaccination charges rising and travel demand trending upwards, I’m excited to share that United will resume the pilot hiring course of that was halted final yr,” Bryan Quigley, United’s senior vp of flight operations, wrote in a staff be aware on Thursday that was considered by CNBC. “We’ll begin with the roughly 300 pilots who both had a new rent class date that was canceled, or who had a 2020 conditional job provide.”

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