A United Airlines 737 Max 8
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
united airlines will stop recruiting pilots this spring because Boeing delivery delays, the latest impact of the plane maker’s problems on one of its biggest customers.
New recruit classes will be off in May and June and will likely resume in July, Marc Champion, vice president of flights, and Kirk Limacher, vice president of flight planning and development, told staff Thursday. CNBC.
“We wanted to let you know that United will slow the pace of pilot hiring this year due to ongoing delays in new aircraft certification and Boeing manufacturing,” they wrote.
Boeing declined to comment.
Boeing is grappling with a series of production defects, including incorrectly drilled holes in the fuselage and the fallout from a door stopper that blew off a near-new Boeing Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on January 5, which caused a brief grounding of the aircraft type earlier this winter. Boltz appeared missing from the plane when it left the Boeing factory, according to a preliminary investigation.
United is contracted to take delivery of 43 Boeing 737 Max 8 and 34 Max 9 models this year, but expects to take delivery of 37 and 19 of them, respectively, according to the company’s filing. It had also contracted deliveries of 80 Max 10s in 2024, the biggest-selling model in the Max family, but doesn’t expect any of them this year. The plane has yet to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and is years behind schedule.
United CEO Scott Kirby said in January that the carrier is making a fleet plan without the Max 10.
“As you know, United has hundreds of new airplanes on order, and while we continue to be the fastest-growing airline in the industry, we just won’t grow as fast as we thought we would in 2024 due to continued delays at Boeing,” Champion and Limacher said. on Thursday. “For example, we’ve had contract deliveries for 80 MAX 10s this year alone – but those aircraft aren’t even certified yet and it’s impossible to know when they’ll arrive.”
Other US carriers have slowed pilot growth this year following a hiring spree in recent years after encouraging staff to retire early when demand fell in the pandemic.
A shortage of aircraft along with slow aircraft deliveries from both Boeing and Airbus as they faced supply chain constraints contributed to the increase in air fares.
American Airlines hired about 2,000 pilots last year and expects to add about 1,300 this year, CEO Robert Isom said at an investor presentation in New York on Monday.
“That slows it down a little bit, but … we have a significant number of retirements,” he said. “We will be hiring for the foreseeable future at those levels.”
Delta Air Lines is halving its pilot hiring this year after bringing in a record 2,400 in 2023, and Southwest Airlines will stop hiring pilots after a new hire class this month, a spokesman said. Some agencies like Spirit Airlines they have completely stopped recruiting pilots to slow their growth and cut costs.