Allegiant Airlines plans to hire 184 pilots in the coming months, a nearly 19 percent increase to the company’s current roster of approximately 1,000 pilots.
The new hires are part of the company’s growth strategy to meet increasing demand for air travel. The first group of pilots will begin training in July, with classes scheduled to run every few weeks through early 2022.
As states have eased pandemic restrictions and the COVID-19 vaccine has rolled out across the country, demand for travel has rebounded. Allegiant, which focuses on linking travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class leisure destinations, was the first domestic carrier to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels.
“These new pilots will be a welcome addition to our current roster of exceptional flight crew members,” said Tracy Tulle, Allegiant’s senior vice president of flight crew operations. “Their hiring really marks an exciting part of our five-year growth plan, which includes onboarding new pilots and flight attendants, as well as adding aircraft to our fleet, and new bases, cities and routes to our network.”
Allegiant operates an all-Airbus fleet of A319s and A320s, flying more than 580 routes to 129 cities. The aircraft are assigned to one of the airline’s 20 bases across the U.S., where crew members live and work. The company currently employs more than 4,000 team members.
The airline’s out-and-back business model is unique in the industry, says Geir Bjoran, Allegiant’s chief pilot. That benefit, combined with competitive wages and advancement opportunities, makes Allegiant an employer of choice for pilots.
“Because our flights are point-to-point, with no layovers or connecting flights, our crew members end most work days back at their home base,” Bjoran says.
