American Airlines Pauses Pilot Hiring

This week, in a memo to pilots with conditional job offers, American Airlines said it would be pausing all pilot hiring through the remainder of the year.

American cited the need to reassess its commercial and talent requirements as the reason for pausing hiring and delaying training classes for the remainder of 2024.

American now joins several other major carriers in slowing down recruitment, including Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, while Southwest has stopped hiring altogether. According to data from fapa.aero, American has hired approximately 749 pilots this year, compared to 690 at Delta and 812 at United.

The airline is also facing challenges in adding capacity due to delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing. Last month, the airline announced it would reduce capacity growth to 3.5% in the second half of the year, down from 8% in the first half, due to an inaccurate demand forecast.

American says pilots will retain their conditional job offers, and the airline expects to finalize decisions about pilot class dates for 2025 later this year.