Major US airlines are going on a hiring spree after slashing tens of thousands of jobs

• Airlines are looking to fill more jobs as air travel makes a comeback, a year after COVID-19 struck.
• American, Delta, and United are among the airlines on a hiring spree.
• Full-time and part-time positions in airline companies rose 6% in March, according to the BTS.

Airlines are in need of more staff as air travel makes a comeback after a turbulent year.

One year after slashing thousands of employees' jobs due to COVID-19 cutting flight demand, top airline companies in the US are going on a hiring spree.

American, Delta, United, and Southwest have all announced they are hiring pilots and other positions before the end of the year.

American was set to furlough 19,000 employees in October, while United said cuts would affect more than 16,000 jobs. Delta said it planned to furlough 1,941 pilots in October after federal aid expired.

Other carriers such as Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways are also looking to fill more jobs. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said in a Simple Flying webinar on May 30 that the company is "giving priority to people that we let go".

The Association of Flight Attendants, a major airline union, predicted the number of flight attendant jobs would climb from 80,000 in June to 100,000 by 2023. The union's president, Sara Nelson, told CNN on Sunday that all of the airlines said at the start of this year they'd be hiring thousands of people.

"Really what we're doing is catching back up where we're supposed to be," Nelson said.

JSfirm.com, an aviation job website, revealed in an April survey that out of 200 airline companies, over half were projecting moderate hiring growth this year. A third said they expect to hire in the second quarter of 2021.

Pilots, and maintenance and avionics technicians remain in highest demand, according to the survey.

4.8 million aviation jobs were at risk of being cut at the beginning of 2021 - a 43% reduction from pre-Covid levels - according to an analysis by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) last year.

Air travel is still not back to pre-pandemic levels despite accelerated vaccine rollouts, the easing of COVID restrictions, and the holiday season. But people booking leisure trips are on the rise, according to a CNN report, suggesting that the need for more employees is also increasing.