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American Airlines may be regretting its decision last year to unilaterally hike regional pilot pay to historically high levels, according to Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier fundamentally changed the economics of regional flying when it raised pilot pay at its three wholly-owned affiliates — Envoy, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines — to nearly the level earned by its own pilots. The move doubled the cost of regional operations, which have long been a lower cost capacity option for major airlines like American to serve small cities and, at least as recently as October, had yet to solve the pilot staffing issues that American’s affiliates face. “American made a bet last year in June, and the bet went wrong,” Syth said at the U.S. Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Rather than siphoning away the available pilots from competitors to Envoy, Piedmont, and PSA, other carriers have matched the pay rates and prompted an industry-wide shift in regional airline economics. Mesa Airlines was the first to match in August and has been followed by much of the industry, including heavyweights Horizon Air, Republic Airways, and SkyWest Airlines. “Increases to wholly-owned pilot pay and other investments to support the operation are near-term investments that will drive long-term value,” an American spokesperson said in response to Syth’s comments. They added that the airline will continue to be “aggressive in tackling the regional pilot constraints affecting the US airline industry.”<br/>

Alaska Airlines plans to hire some 3,500 employees for a variety of roles in 2023 – including pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents – to keep pace with its rapidly growing fleet. The Seattle-headquartered carrier anticipates adding 1,000 flight attendants, 1,000 customer service agents, 240 contact centre agents, 135 maintenance technicians, 100 ramp service agents, 500 managers and 550 pilots. Alaska projects needing to hire roughly the same number of new pilots annually through 2025. “As we continue to grow and bring dozens of new airplanes into our fleet, we need thousands of people to join the Alaska family,” the airline said on 10 January. Alaska has ordered 52 Boeing 737 Max jets and secured rights to purchase a further 105 – part of its plan to completely retire its Airbus A320s and De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s by the end of 2023. “It’s an exciting time to join our team, and we’re eager to welcome more great people to Alaska,” says Andy Schneider, the airline’s senior vice-president of people. “We offer a wide variety of positions, and we pride ourselves on nurturing talent and providing opportunities to learn new skills and move into new, challenging roles.” Most of the jobs – many of which do not require previous experience in the airline industry, Alaska notes – will be based in Seattle, Portland and other cities on the west coast of the USA. In October 2022, Alaska agreed to a new three-year contract with its 3,300 pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International that includes wage increase of up to 23%.<br/>