FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2009
Contact: Kit Darby, ext. 103
Corey Mobley, ext. 170

Airline Pilot Hiring
January 2009 Summary

Airlines that report to AIR, Inc. hired a total of 70 pilots in January, compared to 1,101 hired during the same period last year. The Jet Operators hired the most with 31, followed by the National carriers with 10 and the Non-Jet Operators hired four. Out of the 92,348 pilots employed industry wide, 5,114 are currently on furlough. AIR, Inc. estimates 5,000 new airline pilot jobs will be created in 2009.

Forty-eight out of 175 (27%) of the airlines that report to AIR, Inc. are still hiring pilots. No major airline was interviewing or hiring last month. Three national airlines, four jet operators and six non-jet carriers are still hiring. The crew leasing and foreign sectors are still adding crewmembers to their flight decks monthly.

American Airlines announced on January 14 that it will be recalling 24 furloughed pilots in February. The Allied Pilots Association told its members it expects American to rehire additional pilots in March, but a company spokeswoman said no decision has been made. AMR currently has 1,969 pilots (23%) on furlough and approximately 8,370 staff pilots.

AirTran, which recalled 35 of 167 furloughed pilots in December, recalled an additional 83 pilots in February. AirTran said it would be recalling the remaining 49 furloughees (3%), but no recall date has been set. The major carrier currently has approximately 1,640 pilots on staff.

FedEx announced on January 12 that, despite company-wide salary cuts and other money-saving measures, they would be exercising options for 15 additional B-777 freighters, worth $3.75 billion, bringing their current freighter aircraft orders to 45. At the same time, FedEx also stated that, due to the current global economic market, they would be deferring delivery of some of the aircraft orders. Four of the freighters will be delivered in 2010, four in 2011, three in each subsequent year through 2018 and one in 2019. At five to ten two-pilot crews per aircraft for long-range international operations, these new planes will require 450 to 900 additional pilots in the future.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) announced it will be furloughing 80 pilots (5%) on February 9. The furloughs came after Delta Connection announced that they would be adding ten CRJ-900s to ASA’s fleet in 2009. ASA has approximately 1,580 pilots on staff prior, not including furloughees.

Source: AIR, Inc.  Atlanta, GA  www.jet-jobs.com  800-JET-JOBS

FURLOUGHS AS OF February 16, 2008
Airline Number on Furlough Number Laid-Off Number Active Percent Furloughed Percent Laid-Off
Majors
Airborne Express
17
0
657
2.6%
N/A
AirTran Airways
49
0
1,641
3%
N/A
Alaska Airlines
32
0
1,500
2.1%
N/A
American Airlines
1,969
0
8,379
23.4%
N/A
ASTAR Air Cargo
0
0
525
N/A
N/A
Continental Airlines
148
0
5,070
2.9%
N/A
Delta Air Lines
0
0
6,500
N/A
N/A
FedEx
0
0
4,780
N/A
N/A
Frontier Airlines
61
0
718
8.5%
N/A
JetBlue
0
0
1,975
N/A
N/A
Northwest Airlines
0
0
5,105
N/A
N/A
Southwest Airlines
0
0
5,692
N/A
N/A
United Airlines
606
0
6,400
9.5%
N/A
United Parcel Service
0
0
2,932
N/A
N/A
US Airways
184
0
5,238
3.5%
N/A
TOTAL
3,066
0
57,112
5.4%
N/A
Airline Number on Furlough Number Laid-Off Number Active Percent Furloughed Percent Laid-Off
Nationals
Air Transport International
0
0
275
N/A
N/A
Air Wisconsin
61
0
817
7.5%
N/A
AirNet Express
0
0
160
N/A
N/A
Allegiant Air
0
0
242
N/A
N/A
*Aloha Airline
0
273
0
N/A
100%
American Eagle
0
0
3,000
N/A
N/A
Amerijet Int’l
0
0
71
N/A
N/A
*ATA
0
315
0
N/A
100%
Atlantic Southeast
0
0
1,584
N/A
N/A
Atlas Air
28
0
650
4.3%
N/A
*Champion Air
0
130
0
N/A
100%
Comair
296
0
1,385
21.4%
N/A
Evergreen Int’l Airlines
30
0
245
12.2%
N/A
ExpresssJet
347
0
2,600
13.3%
N/A
Florida West Int'l Airways
0
0
12
N/A
N/A
*Gemini Air Cargo
0
246
0
N/A
100%
Hawaiian Airlines
0
0
324
N/A
N/A
Horizon Air
68
0
725
9.4%
N/A
Kalitta Air
70
0
330
21.2%
N/A
Mesa Airlines
49
0
1,542
3.2%
N/A
Mesaba Airlines
0
0
1,052
N/A
N/A
Miami Air Int'l
0
0
95
N/A
N/A
Midwest Express Airlines
270
0
375
72%
N/A
North American Airlines
0
0
194
N/A
N/A
Omni Air Int'l
19
0
245
7.8%
N/A
Pinnacle Airlines
0
0
1,400
N/A
N/A
Polar Air Cargo
49
51 (PFE's)
230
21.3%
17%
Republic Airways
135
0
1,800
7.5%
N/A
Ryan Int'l Airlines
51
0
135
37.8%
N/A
SkyWest Airlines
0
0
2,854
N/A
N/A
Spirit Airlines
135
0
356
37.2%
N/A
Sun Country Airlines
0
0
100
N/A
N/A
Trans States Airlines
76
0
652
11.7%
N/A
US Airways/Piedmont
0
0
515
N/A
N/A
US Airways/PSA
80
0
359
22.3%
N/A
USA 3000
0
0
152
N/A
N/A
USA Jet Airlines
36
0
75
48%
N/A
World Airways
0
0
425
N/A
N/A
TOTAL
1,800
1,015
25,166
7.2%
4%
Total Jet Operators
13
630
2,345
1%
26.9%
Total Non-Jet Operators
43
250
2,664
1.6%
9.4%
Total Fractionals
192
0
4,548
4.2%
N/A
Total Crew Leasing/Foreign/Training
0
0
N/A
N/A
N/A
Total Training and Very Light Jets
0
85
490
N/A
17.3%
Total Startups
0
0
13
N/A
N/A
AIRLINE TOTAL
5,114
1,915
92,348
5.5%
2.1%
Notes: * Carrier Ceased Operations

www.jet-jobs.com
800 JET-JOBS (538-5627)

# # #

 

webeditor:airinfo@airapps.com
AIR, Inc. * Atlanta, GA * Copyright 2008 * 800-AIR-APPS / 800-JET-JOBS
www.jet-jobs.com