442 Hired in Short Month

The airline industry carried into February the momentum of steady hiring with which it began the new year. A total of 442 pilots were hired in February. AIR, Inc. projects the industry will hire 6,000-7,000 new pilots in 2003. The February rate, and the combined January/February rate, if annualized, are slightly below even the '6,000' projection; the industry's hiring is expected to pick up at a faster rate, later in the year.

In February, 107 of the 198 total (54%) airlines/operators reporting to AIR, Inc. hired pilots. The major airlines hired 71 pilots with five of the 14 (36%) carriers expected to hire over the next several months. In the national airlines segment, the most active, 14 of 32 (44%) hired a total of 167 new pilots. The jet operators hired 71; fractional companies hired 30. The non-jet operators hired 61 new pilots. At the end of February, the total number of pilots on furlough decreased to 8,260 (8.73%), compared to 8,311 (8.79%) in January out of the total of 94,571 active airline pilots.

Jobs Seminar and Fair Set for April 12

The West Coast region Airline Pilot Career Seminar, Airline Forum, and Job Fair will be held in Los Angeles, CA (LAX), at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Saturday, April 12. Airlines currently signed on to attend include: Alaska Airlines, American Trans Air, AirNet, Ameriflight, Atlantic Coast Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Comair, Flight Options, JetBlue, and NW Airlink/Pinnacle Airlines. Airlines invited to attend include: FedEx, Southwest Airlines, AirTran, American Eagle Airlines and many others. The seminar will feature topics on the pilot hiring market, job search planning, pre-employment medical exams, interviewing, written testing, and applications/résumés/cover letters.

Seven Career Workshops will also be conducted. The first four workshops will be held Friday afternoon and evening, April 11, featuring Furlough Survival, CRM, Military/Airline Transition, and Résumés/Cover Letters/Applications. Sunday will be Interview Survival, Airline Testing/Simulator Checks, and Civilian/Airline Transition.

FMI: www.jet-jobs.com