On Thursday morning, United Airlines announced that by the end of 2013, all furloughed pilots will be recalled, totaling nearly 600. United says they are ending the furloughs in order to address the airline’s future staffing needs. Training classes for the recalled pilots will begin next month, and United is planning for the process to be completed by years end.. In total, United has more than 12,000 pilots.
“We look forward to welcoming back our co-workers as we complete work to integrate all of our pilots into a single work group,” said Howard Attarian, United’s senior vice president of Flight Operations. “We are pleased to have this group of talented aviators back on our team. They are among the most experienced and most accomplished in the industry.”
Airlines went through quite a bit of furloughs in the years following 9/11 and the economic meltdown. In 2008, United furloughed 950 pilots, or 15 percent of its overall pilots.
