Passengers deplane from a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California, Oct. 10, 2021.
Southwest Airlines has hired and trained 3,000 flight attendants so far this year, nearly triple its record cabin crew member hiring in all of 2018, the carrier told staff last week.
The carrier told staff that it has 7,000 flight attendants in its hiring pipeline and that its attrition rate among new cabin crew members has dropped to 2.5% compared with 6.1% in 2019.
The hiring spree comes as Southwest flight attendants' union and management have been locked in contract negotiations.
Southwest and United Airlines flight attendants, which are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, are set to picket at major airports on Tuesday to demand better working conditions.