Recently Continental Airlines said it would buck the national trend and actually expand their domestic capacity. Continental and United are the only two major legacy carriers that have said they will hire new staff this year.
To apply for a job with the airline, check out their Career Opportunities with Continental Airlines webpage.
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After several years of downsizing and thousands of job cuts, Continental Airlines is on a hiring binge.
At a time when most of its traditional competitors are continuing to cut back, the Houston-based airline is on a quest to hire 4,500 people, roughly 600 in Houston.
Companywide, the carrier is filling positions including flight attendants, pilots, reservations agents and airport ramp agents.
The pilots union for Continental already has been holding welcome parties for newcomers, said union spokesman Jim Moody.
"The company apparently is gearing up to move ahead and we are happy to see it," he said Friday. "We know that pilots at many of the other carriers are still out on furlough and really having a lot of troubles."
Like most carriers, Continental lost money in 2005. But the Houston carrier plans to increase its capacity by 8 percent this year, and some analysts predict it may turn a profit for 2006.
The airline has made an estimated $1 billion in cost reductions, as well as wage and benefit concessions the company negotiated with employees, major moves that will finance the expansion, said Continental spokeswoman Julie King.
"Due to the sacrifices of employees, we have been able to grow, unlike other carriers that have been cutting costs and shrinking," she said.
Looking overseas
Though the carrier is adding some U.S. service, the driver of the new hiring is Continental's international expansion. That has been fueled by increasing competition from other carriers, particularly Delta.Delta, too, is expanding internationally even though the company is in bankruptcy court.
All carriers see international markets as being more profitable than the domestic market. Because there is less competition on some routes, airlines can charge higher fares and make more money.
Still, aviation consultant Alan Sbarra acknowledged Continental's move is a calculated gamble because the company is spending money to expand at a time when it is still losing money.
Continental chairman and chief executive Larry Kellner has been in Europe this week visiting cities — including Barcelona, Spain; Cologne, Germany; and Copenhagen, Denmark — where new routes will start next month.
Calyon Securities analyst Ray Neidl said Thursday that he wasn't surprised at Continental's hiring because "they are growing and they will need the extra employees."
Industrywide, the number of full-time employees at the top seven network carriers has declined every month since 2001, falling by 27 percent overall since January 2002, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a division of the Department of Transportation.
Employment in the airline industry dropped from 368,000 in 2002 to 270,000 in January of this year.
Continental's growth plan is a reversal from what it did three years ago, when it laid off about 8,000 employees.
After that, it then wrangled almost $500 million in wage and benefit concessions from remaining employees.
Many of Continental's competitors have made similar cuts as the industry tries to battle back from a tumultuous period that began more than five years ago with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. High fuel prices are still threatening to derail a significant comeback.
US Airways has recalled 55 pilots and is recalling 400 flight attendants, but that carrier — which recently merged with America West — led network carriers in the number of full-time employees cut in recent years. It had almost 43 percent fewer employees in January of this year compared to 2002.
Reductions at Continental, which reduced its staff by 7.3 percent, are dwarfed when compared to reductions at United, Northwest, Delta and American.
Southwest Airlines, the low-fare leader that carries more passengers than any carrier in the country, cut less than one percent.
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