Southwest plans to renew hiring flight attendants when the journey recovers

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-73V jet leaves Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 2021.

Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images

Airlines spent much of the last year worrying about having too many people busy after the demand for travel dropped. Now they are trying to avoid the opposite problem when customers return and the effects of the Covid pandemic wear off.

Southwest Airlines is the newest airline to address this issue and plans to recruit flight attendants in the coming weeks, according to CNBC. A spokesman from the southwest said it was too early to determine how many flight attendants would be needed.

Competitors like American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines recently announced that they intend to resume pilot hiring this year in hopes that they can meet increasing travel demand in the years ahead as hundreds of Pilots hired near the federal retirement age are 65 years.

Dallas-based Southwest recently announced that it will be calling back flight attendants who have been on temporary vacation next month at the company’s urging.

“In order to meet future operational requirements, all flight attendants were called back to work from June 1st and we will have to hire flight attendants in the near future,” the staff said in a statement.

Southwest has started reaching out to candidates who had conditional vacancies when the pandemic froze hiring last year.

“We are pleased to announce that the majority of these candidates are still interested in joining our in-flight family and this is helping us rebuild a pool of candidates,” the memo reads.

The airline is also hiring some ramp agents and other ground workers.