A United Airlines 737 Max 8
Leslie Joseph | CNBC
united airlines will suspend pilot hiring this spring due to aircraft deliveries boeingthe latest effect of the plane maker's problems with one of its largest customers.
New hire classes will be suspended in May and June and likely resume in July, Marc Champion, vice president of flight operations, and Kirk Limacher, vice president of flight operations planning and development, told staff Thursday in a memo. which was seen by CNBC.
“We wanted to let you know that United will be slowing the pace of pilot hiring this year due to continued new aircraft certifications and manufacturing delays at Boeing,” they wrote.
Boeing has been struggling with a series of production glitches, including improperly drilled holes in the fuselage and the fallout from a door plug that exploded on a nearly new Boeing Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on January 5, resulting in a brief grounding of the aircraft type earlier this winter. Screws appeared to be missing from the plane when it left the Boeing factory, a preliminary investigation found.
United was contracted to take delivery of 43 Boeing 737 Max 8 and 34 Max 9 models this year, but expects to receive 37 and 19 of them, respectively, according to a company document. It also had contracts for deliveries of 80 Max 10s in 2024, the largest model in the best-selling Max family, but does not expect any of them this year. The plane has not yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and is years behind schedule.
United CEO Scott Kirby said in January that the airline is making a fleet plan without the Max 10.
“As you know, United has hundreds of new aircraft on order and while we remain on track to be the fastest growing airline in the industry, we simply will not grow as fast as we thought in 2024 due to continued delays at Boeing,” Champion said. and Limacher on Thursday. “For example, this year alone we had contractual deliveries of 80 MAX 10s, but those aircraft are not even certified yet and it is impossible to know when they will arrive.”
Other US airlines have slowed pilot growth this year following a hiring spree in recent years, after encouraging staff to retire early when demand fell due to the pandemic.
The shortage of aviators, along with slow aircraft deliveries from both Boeing and Airbus as they face supply chain constraints, have helped drive up airfares.
american airlines It hired about 2,000 pilots last year and expects to add about 1,300 this year, Chief Executive Robert Isom said in an investor presentation in New York on Monday.
“That's slowing down a little bit, but … we have a fair number of retirements,” he said. “For the foreseeable future we will be hiring at levels like that.”
Delta Airlines is cutting pilot hiring in half this year after reaching a record 2,400 in 2023, and Southwest Airlines will suspend hiring pilots after a class for new employees this month, a spokesman said. Some carriers like Spiritual airlines They have stopped hiring pilots completely to slow their growth and reduce costs.
