US Airline Carriers Paying More to Attract New Hires

American airline carriers are ramping up hiring efforts ahead of the holiday season to keep up with increased number of fliers. Many airlines are going as far as to poaching employees from rivals and offering high bonuses.


During the pandemic, many airline employees were laid off due to complete shutdown of flights across the globe. However, as flights resume and travelling becomes easier, the airline industry is facing a shortage of pilots, agents and flight attendants. Experts have said the current shortage is due to the excessive firing from the pandemic.


Airline carriers are offering hefty pay packages to attract employees. Piedmont Airlines is currently offering $180,000 bonus packages to attract pilots whereas United Airlines is offering $5,000 signing bonus to bring in more agents. The shortage in the labor market is boosting wage expenses in the industry rapidly. Many have pointed out the fast-losing popularity of airline jobs is directly associated with poor paying entry level jobs in the field. The labor crisis began long before the covid era according to analysts.

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