In a memo obtained by AirlineGeeks, low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines announced its plans to suspend pilot hiring for the majority of 2024.
According to the memo, the airline plans to pause all new hire classes this year stating, “Based on expected capacity growth beyond 2024, we’ve made the difficult decision to suspend Initial First Officer Training classes through the remainder of 2024 and defer job offers, beginning with our April classes.”
Further, Southwest said it would transfer pilots with conditional job offers to a “deferred candidate pool” that will be tapped into once hiring resumes. However, the airline did not give a time frame for when that could restart.
Pilot hiring figures from FAPA.aero shows Southwest hired nearly 2,000 pilots in 2023—a far cry from the projected 345 pilots it plans to hire this year, as stated in the memo.
Other airlines including Spirit, FedEx and UPS have also scaled back hiring in recent months, suggesting a slowdown in recruitment following an unprecedented surge in hiring in the aftermath of the pandemic.
