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 hiring classes for the remainder of 2024, starting in April.
This decision is part of a broader company-wide slowdown in hiring to align with current business plans, reduced capacity growth expectations, and to drive efficiency.
Pilots with conditional job offers will be moved to a "deferred candidate pool" for future consideration once hiring recommences.
Southwest's move reflects a wider industry trend, as other airlines like Spirit have also halted pilot recruitment after a period of record-setting hiring in 2023.

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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.