Southwest Halts 2024 Pilot Hiring Plans

In a memo, the airline said it would be pausing pilot new hire classes in 2024.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, March 04, 2024 at 02:35 PM ET

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A Southwest 737 in Las Vegas. [AirlineGeeks/William Derrickson]

Key Takeaways:

Southwest Airlines is pausing all new pilot hire classes for the remainder of 2024, beginning in April, as part of a company-wide slowdown in hiring.
The decision aims to align staffing with expected capacity growth beyond 2024 and reduce overall hiring to levels at or below the airline's attrition rate.
Candidates with conditional job offers will be moved to a deferred pool, with no specific date provided for when hiring will resume.
This move by Southwest, following a record hiring year in 2023 and a new pilot contract, reflects a broader industry trend of U.S. carriers reducing or halting pilot recruitment.

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Southwest is the latest airline to adjust its pilot hiring plans in 2024. The Dallas-based airline is pausing all new hire classes this year, it said in a memo viewed by AirlineGeeks.

“Based on expected capacity growth beyond 2024, we’ve made the difficult decision to suspend Initial First Officer Training classes through the remainder of 2024 and defer job offers, beginning with our April classes,” the memo to prospective candidates said.