Is this the beginning of the end of the pilot shortage? UPS let go of 200 pilots, as pilot hiring levels off.
Why is this important: UPS recently provided buyout severance packages to approximately 250 pilots, citing a lack of shipping demands. FedEx might be looking to do the same. It is said that there was an increase in pilot hiring post-pandemic. We must remember that a lot of the hiring that was taking place was from a low baseline given the furlough and early retirement that took place during the pandemic. Nonetheless, these recent developments are worth following.
Continue reading to learn more about the current situation with the pilot shortage or the lack thereof.
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UPS reduces pilot head count by nearly 200 with buyouts
Nearly 200 senior pilots at UPS have accepted the company’s voluntary severance package, and regional passenger airline PSA Airlines is trying to recruit them to close a crew shortage.
The head count reduction at UPS Airlines is much more limited than one envisioned at rival FedEx Express, where management has acknowledged it has more than 700 excess pilots and on Friday urged flight crews to quit for the same type of offer at PSA Airlines, an American Airlines subsidiary that operates in the Eastern half of the United States.
UPS (NYSE: UPS) in late August offered early retirement to veteran pilots as part of an effort to reduce costs in the face of shrinking parcel volumes.
By Eric Kulisch | Yahoo Finance
American Airlines offers $250K bonuses to poach FedEx and UPS pilots
American Airlines is on a hiring spree — and is offering $250,000 bonuses to poach FedEx and UPS pilots to jump from piloting cargo carriers to working as captains on its passenger planes.
PSA Airlines, a regional carrier owned by American, is dangling the six-figure bonus for UPS and FedEx pilots who can help fill a gap in service to smaller US cities — which has widened over the past year as smaller airports have been forced to cancel flights due to a lack of pilots, according to The Wall Street Journal.
PSA is reportedly desperate for aviators with enough experience to join the cockpit as a captain after being forced to keep many of its planes grounded.
Last year, 30 airports in the continental US lost at least half of the departures they had in 2019, The Journal reported, citing figures from Airline Data Inc.
By Shannon Thaler | New York Post
United Doubles Down on Pilot Hiring, Sets New Record
Amid a recent flurry of headlines around slowdowns in hiring among some airlines, United is keeping its foot on the gas. The Chicago-based carrier just hired a record number of pilots in October.
According to data from FAPA – a pilot career advisory group that’s been tracking hiring trends across 13 major U.S. airlines for over 30 years – United hired 270 pilots in October 2023, the carrier’s highest amount of new hires in a single month. This boils down to nearly 70 new hires each week.
Last year, the airline hired 2,500 pilots, making 2022 a record-setting year for new aviators on United’s property. The 270 new hires in October bring United’s total to 2,296 new pilots so far this year.
By Ryan Ewing | Flying Magazine
Pilot Hiring In The US Is Starting To Level Off
The cyclical nature of the airline industry was on full display during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and even now with the fluctuations in hiring trends, particularly for positions inside the cockpit. Not too long ago, airlines went on a pilot hiring spree, as the Airline Pilots Association projected demand for more than 128,000 new pilots in the US alone, but recent trends suggest that it has hit a plateau in recent months.
The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly challenging for airline pilots, whose jobs were threatened significantly during its peak. While it was assumed that re-hiring would take place once the pandemic subsided, airlines actually went all out to hire new pilots in a post-pandemic network and fleet expansion program. US airlines, in particular, saw a great demand for cockpit crew and handed out new offer letters and contracts to attract the best talents in the industry. And while pilot hiring continues, the latest trends show that it has leveled off in the last couple of months.
By Gaurav Joshi | Simple Flying
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