The airline estimates 5,000 new pilot jobs across the industry next year.
A Delta A220 at Paine Field. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)
After cutting its pilot hiring figures by roughly 50% in 2024, Delta is forecasting a “more normalized” tempo next year. Most major U.S. carriers hired pilots at record numbers soon after the pandemic but have since throttled back.
The Atlanta-based airline hopes to return its regional capacity to pre-pandemic levels in summer 2025, driven by improvements in pilot supply, company leadership shared during a third-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
“With hiring and training normalizing, we are growing into our resources and gaining traction on efficiency and initiatives, helping fund continued investments in our people and brand,” said Delta finance chief Dan Janki during the call.
Data from the Future and Active Pilot Advisors (FAPA) shows that Delta has hired 870 pilots so far in 2024, representing an over 50% year-over-year change from the same period in 2023. As a whole, the industry follows a similar trend, with major U.S. carriers reporting a roughly 40% reduction in hiring numbers overall.
Delta expects industrywide pilot hiring to be more in line with 2019 levels.
“As you know, pilot constraints as the majors were hiring early in the recovery period put a lot of strain on availability of pilot crews for the regional carriers … and we’ve been working very closely with them,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein added.
He said that the company expects U.S. airlines to hire approximately 5,000 pilots next year. In 2019, airlines were just 23 new hires short of this figure, according to FAPA’s data.
“So [we are] returning to more normalized pilot hiring across the industry,” Hauenstein noted.
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