Delta to hire 1,000 new pilots

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines returns to the recruitment market. The airline intends to hire more than 1,000 pilots by next summer, a Delta memo seen by Reuters said.

Delta expects leisure travel demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels as early as this month followed by a recovery of business travel, Delta COO John Laughter said in the memo. The sector recovery will be boosted by international flights - Delta expects transatlantic travel restrictions to be eased in the second half of 2021.

Delta requires a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination certificate among all new hires. The airline will call all of its 1,700 furloughed pilots back to cockpit work by October.