Alaska Airlines Plans to Add 3,500 Employees in 2023

Originally published on Airways

Alaska Airlines (AS) plans to hire around 3,500 employees for different roles in 2023. These roles include flight attendants, pilots, and customer service agents.

These new hires are to keep pace with AS’ rapidly growing fleet. The Seattle-based carrier plans on hiring 1,000 customer service agents, 1,000 flight attendants, 550 pilots, 500 managers, 240 call center agents, 135 maintenance technicians, and 100 ramp service agents. The airline anticipates hiring the same number of new pilots annually until 2025 to keep up with demand. 

Most of these new positions are based along the airline’s west coast hubs, including Seattle and Portland. In October 2022, the carrier agreed to a new three-year contract with its 3,300 pilots, which the Air Line Pilots Association represents. This new deal included a 23% increase in pay.

Boeing 737-9 in flight. Photo: Brandon Farris/Airways

New Aircraft, New Staff for an Extensive Network

The Seattle-based carrier has ordered 52 Boeing 737 MAX planes and has the right to purchase an additional 105. This is part of the carrier’s aircraft fleet renewal plan, under which the carrier plans to completely retire its Airbus A320s and De Havilland Dash 8-400s fleet by the end of 2023. 

Alaska Airlines and its regional partner, Horizon Air, fly to over 120 destinations across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Belize, and Mexico. The carrier is also a member of the oneworld Alliance, which allows AS customers to travel to over 900 destinations across the globe on over 20 different airlines while earning and redeeming Alaska miles. 

Andy Schneider, the carrier’s senior vice president of people, commented, “It’s an exciting time to join our team, and we’re eager to welcome more great people to Alaska. We offer a wide variety of positions, and we pride ourselves on nurturing talent and providing opportunities to learn new skills and move into new, challenging roles.”