Steady As They Go....

According to our friends at AIR, Inc., pilot hiring levels remained steady through October. A total of 377 pilots were hired. Nationals led the hiring list, followed by the Jet Operator division, and non-Jet Operators rounded out the top three. Non-jet Operators maintained their low furlough numbers, reporting just 38 pilots still on furlough.

In October, 57 of the 189 total (30.16 percent) airlines/operators reporting to AIR, Inc. hired pilots. National airlines were the most active sector with 10 of 31 (32.26 percent) airlines hiring 189 pilots. Jet Operators hired 98, Non-jet companies hired 64, and the majors hired 56. As of October 31, the total number of pilots on furlough had increased to 9,827 (9.61 percent) compared to 9,634 (10 percent) on September 30. The airline companies currently report a total of 94,319 active airline pilots.

The major airline industry finally showed signs of a recovery in October. Three U.S. airlines reported better than expected third quarter results, due in part to a healthy summer travel demand. America West, Alaska Airlines, and ATA reported second quarter profits and continued the trend by recording a positive third quarter. Alaska Airlines reported a 13.2% increase in revenues over the same period last year, America West reported a 13.82% increase, and ATA reported a 22.2% increase. Northwest was the only major airline to report a decrease in revenues of .31 percent over the same quarter in 2002.

JetBlue lead the national airline industry reporting $273.6 million in revenues, a staggering 66% increase over last year, Frontier came in strong second reporting $165.8 million in revenues (up 38.99%), and AirTran rounded out the trio reporting third quarter revenues of $237 million up 29.5% from 2002.

An ATL AIR, Inc. Job Fair/Seminar is set for November 21-23 at the airport Renaissance Concourse Hotel. Airline representatives from America West, AirNet, AirTran, ATA, Gulfstream, Southwest, Tab Express, and World Aviation Systems, Inc. (WASINC) will be in attendance.

FMI: www.jet-jobs.com