UPS to Hire 300 Pilots to Support Postal Service Contract

UPS has about 292 freighters in its mainline fleet, which is 43 percent smaller than FedEx’s.

Eric Kulisch

Monday, April 08, 2024 at 02:28 PM ET

Verified

UPS MD-11 freighter [Credit: Jim Allen/FreightWaves]

Key Takeaways:

UPS plans to hire over 300 pilots to accommodate an expected increase in air cargo demand resulting from its new multi-year contract with the U.S. Postal Service.
This hiring surge, confirmed in part by UPS's current job postings (170 pilots), counters earlier analyst predictions that UPS would need few new pilots, leveraging its ground network instead.
The move follows UPS securing the lucrative USPS contract from FedEx and comes after UPS offered buyout packages to nearly 200 senior pilots last year amid a parcel market downturn.

See a mistake? Contact us.

UPS is looking to hire more than 300 pilots to support an anticipated increase in air cargo demand driven by a new multi-year contract from the U.S. Postal Service, according to the union representing the company’s air crews.

“The Independent Pilots Association Executive Board was informed that UPS HR is resuming their pilot hiring process to account for the additional volume surge that will occur as the year progresses,” the union said in a statement shared with FreightWaves. “The initial projected estimate for hiring is expected to be 300+ additional crew members, which is subject to adjustment once the network plan for the additional USPS volume is finalized.”