American Airlines recalls flight attendants to work, plans to hire 800 to meet demand

American Airlines told the remaining 3,300 flight attendants on voluntary leave to return by November or December and that it would begin recruiting new cabin crew members, according to a staff memo sent Thursday, which was reviewed by CNBC.

This is the latest sign the carrier is forecasting sustained travel demand beyond this summer’s surge.

“Growing customer demand and new routes starting later this year mean we need more flight attendants to operate the airline,” said Brady Byrnes, vice president of flight services, in a note. .

The airline plans to hire 800 flight attendants by March 2022, according to the note.

American has offered extended voluntary leave of up to two years during the pandemic to help cut costs as travel demand was devastated by the virus. He also encouraged staff to take early retirement packages. Other carriers urged employees to take similar packages.

But bookings, driven by domestic pleasure travel, have jumped in late spring and early summer, and now carriers are scrambling to increase their numbers.

Getting employees who have been on leave or who haven’t actively worked can be difficult and time consuming.

Two-thirds of U.S. flight attendants on leave will need to be retrained before they can fly, Byrnes said.

“Returning up to 3,300 flight attendants by December is no easy task for our teams working to support you behind the scenes,” Byrnes said.

American, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers have been busy training hundreds of pilots who have been called back to work, a process that can take over a month in some cases.

These carriers along with United Airlines and Spirit have announced plans to hire additional pilots to meet what executives expect to be in high demand next year.