U.S. Airlines are beginning to hire more pilots. At least that's the latest indication according to statistics compiled by AIR, Inc., a company that regularly tracks pilot hiring trends among U.S. airlines. The company recently released information that suggests that U.S. airlines hired more pilots in February than in any other month since September 2001. This comes as good news to the thousands of pilots who have endured extensive furloughs.

According to airlines polled by AIR, Inc., 743 pilots were hired in February. Of the 187 airlines that report to AIR, Inc., 155 say that they are actively recruiting pilots. Carriers included iin the survey forcast hiring a total of 4,300 pilots in 2004. As of February, they have hired approximately 31 percent of that number. Airlines with significant hiring include:

Although furloughs continue in some sectors of the indursty, a number of airlines have begun recalls. Continat at press time had 542 pilots on furlough, but management has agreed to fill 169 slots by midsummer. Northwest at press time had 883 furloughed pilots and has sent 52 recall notices for May flying and 35 for June flying.

The numbers indicate an overall positive trend for the industry, which has suffered through a difficult economic period. Although pilot hiring decreased slightly in November and December 2003, hiring has been rising steadily since July 2003.

A struggling economy, concerns ver terrorism, and a number of airline reorganizations are all factors that have kept pilot hiring to a minimum, and indeed prompted furloughs at some carriers over the past few years. But, while airlines are currently hiring far fewer pilots than they were before September 11, 2001, many in the profession are hoping that recent numbers signal the industry's slow emergence from its economic difficulties.

But whatever it means, it's probably a good idea for out-of-work pilots to stay current and udate their resumes. Competition for jobs will probably continue to be stiff for quite awhile.