Delta Air Lines is planning to restore 400 pilots to full-time positions by this summer, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“Last month, we committed to make good use of the time the extension of the federal payroll support program (PSP) afforded us to evaluate customer demand and our recovery as important factors further developed, especially the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote John Laughter, Delta Air Lines’s senior vice president and chief of operations. “As we looked at ways to better position ourselves to support the projected recovery, we saw an opportunity to build back additional pilot staffing in advance of summer 2022 by bringing 400 affected pilots back to active flying status by this summer.”
Laughter noted that the return was “well ahead” of the company’s original estimates and attributed it to federal aid and “available training capacity starting in March and April.”
Airlines were ravaged by the pandemic amid a lack of both travelers and federal support for much of 2020. In September, airlines laid off tens of thousands of workers. Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines, which had avoided early fall layoffs by rolling out pay cuts, warned that it may have to lay off as many as 6,800 employees by spring, the first layoffs in the company’s 50-year history.
Delta was able to avoid furloughs last year by implementing pay cuts and other cost-cutting efforts. But in December, Congress passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief package that included support for airlines.
Laughter warned, however, that the company still had a “long and choppy” recovery ahead — Delta is expecting to continue its trend of burning between $10 million and $15 million in cash every day, in addition to “similarly depressed customer demand.”
After a brief holiday surge in which more people traveled than at any time since the coronavirus pandemic began, travel has remained stubbornly below 1 million air travelers a day, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Comparatively, January 2020 did not see a single day below 1 million, with most days breaking 2 million passengers.
“However, we’re cautiously optimistic that demand will increase as vaccinations roll out across the world, and we look forward to restoring all affected pilots back to full flying status as the recovery continues,” Laughter said.
