US Airways will fill 500 flight crew-member positions next year by recalling laid-off employees and hiring new personnel. The majority of the 80 pilots and 420 flight attendants will be working by July, the company said. Employees will be based in Charlotte, N.C.; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Phoenix.
US Airways announced that it intends to increase international flights, as well as increase its fleet size by 8 percent in 2011, and replace older Boeing 737s with Airbus A321s that require an additional flight attendant.
The airline said the move is also required to fill openings resulting from retirement and employees leaving for other reasons.
“This is great news for our work force and the communities we serve,” US Airways President Scott Kirby said. “We look forward to welcoming our colleagues back to US Airways, and bringing new crew members onto the team.”
When the recall process is complete there will be fewer than 100 pilots left on furlough. US Airways will have no flight attendants on furlough. The carrier will have a total of 7,300 flight attendants and 4,970 pilots.
Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways operates more than 3,100 flights daily to over 200 destinations in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Middle East.
A number of additional US air carriers have also announced that they will be adding employees in 2010 and 2011 as they pull back from cuts that began in the second half of 2008.
American Airlines said Oct. 6 it is bringing back 545 flight attendants and 250 pilots by early 2011, and Delta Air Lines has said in recent months that it will need at least 1,000 more flight attendants and about that number of airport workers.
