JetBlue over-hires to fight attrition
The CEO of the company opens up about the challenges the airline is facing.
Why You Should Care
Airlines are struggling to meet the demands of consumers because of staff shortages.
Uncover JetBlue's unique strategy to keep up with the growing travel market.
Will other airlines follow suit?
On the back of agreeing on a deal to acquire Spirit Airlines, some would have thought that major American airline JetBlue would slow its hiring strategy. Instead, it turns out the company is making a surplus of hires.
CEO of JetBlue Robin Hayes revealed that in a travel climate where many passengers are facing delays, the company will be over-hiring because of attrition issues.
Speaking to the BBC, Hayes said: “I now need to over-hire just to keep the number I need. With COVID-19, we lost a lot of experienced people.”
This has led to issues because “even if you can get the people, they don’t have the same experience as someone who was doing that job for ten or 15 years, so it’s going to take longer for them to learn the skills,” commented Hayes.
Onboarding effectively
Despite a desire to upskill new staff, Hayes noted that it can take some months to get new hires up to speed.
To overcome this challenge the company is boosting its training capacity with more flight simulators for pilots. It has even built an extra classroom to keep up with the company’s hiring and upskilling strategies.
However, onboarding may still need further development at JetBlue. Hayes conceded that the airline’s attrition is high and stated “you’re hiring people but then they’re leaving more quickly so you then have to adjust your hiring plan”.
Many businesses have experienced attrition challenges over the course of the ‘Great Resignation‘, which saw employees reconsider what they want from work. For some, it was simply a higher wage, while others wanted flexibility, better benefits, or improved wellbeing offerings.
When facing an attrition issue like JetBlue is, it is essential for organizations to find out why people are leaving and begin proactively addressing the issues raised. After all, a benefits package is a lot cheaper than over-hiring staff.
The need to assess how to retain staff will undoubtedly become important as travel becomes popular again after the pandemic. Discussing JetBlue’s long-term outlook, Hayes said that at the end of this year the travel business should return to 80% of 2019 levels.
With this projection in sight, many airlines will need to urgently address the pilot shortage in the US and beyond.
United Airlines believes that pilots will be hard to come by for years to come. The issue is that the maximum amount of pilots that can be qualified in the US a year is 7,000, while the aviation industry needs close to double this.
Keeping up with demand is a business imperative, but to do this airlines will need competitive wages and benefits to make hires stick in a competitive talent climate.
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Senior Journalist
Dan combines his first-hand experience alongside the latest news and opinions in the HR Technology space.
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