Do you know anyone who currently works for UAL? Do we have to give up our recall rights? I'd love to be qualified and fly on the 747 but not to give up recall rights just yet when UAL is still in bankruptcy with a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
Looks like you won't have to worry about making a decision. There are obviously plenty of people who think United has a bright future.
From the United Airlines CEO
When our online Web site -- set up to recruit qualified candidates for 2,000 flight attendant positions opening in 2006 -- went live on Sunday, we received 7,500 applications in the first day alone, seven times as many as we expected. We are able to hire new flight attendants because our restructuring work and improvements to operations have put us in a better competitive position compared to other network carriers, and we will continue to strengthen our core business. .
Reuters
United to hire 2,000 flight attendants
Friday November 11, 1:26 pm ET
By Christian Plumb
NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Airlines, the No. 2 U.S. carrier, said on Friday it plans to start hiring 2,000 flight attendants as it increases the numbers of international flights and as domestic jets fly longer-range routes.
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The new hires, the UAL Corp. (OTC BB:UALAQ.OB - News) unit's first since the September 11, 2001, attacks, come as it prepares to emerge from bankruptcy early next year.
The new staffing is largely an exception in an industry that has slashed thousands of jobs as traffic nosedived after the 2001 attacks, then was battered on the cost side by soaring fuel prices.
The hiring will begin on Sunday in Chicago, where United is based, and in Washington, which serves as a departure point for many of United's overseas flights, airline spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said Friday.
She said some of the new hires would replace flight attendants who have retired or decided not to return from voluntary furloughs during the airline's nearly three years in bankruptcy.
A seven-week training course for the new jobs will begin in January, the airline said.
The airline now has 17,000 flight attendants, 15,000 of whom are active, though that number is set to increase as United has called back all of its flight attendants on furlough, she said.
Dela Cruz estimated the new hires would earn annual salaries of about $16,000, based on a minimum of 75 guaranteed hours a month, down from the $19,500 that was typical before wages were cut in bankruptcy.
But United said the jobs would pay $23,000 to $24,000 based on a full-time schedule of 85 hours a month, going up to a maximum of $45,000 for more senior flight attendants working on international routes.
The jobs include 401-K retirement plans, health and dental insurance, paid vacations and travel privileges.
United is among several U.S. airlines that are shifting capacity to more-profitable international routes and away from domestic ones where they face stiff competition from low-cost carriers.
"As we fly more routes internationally, those routes, those flights require more flight attendants than in the domestic flights because on the international flights there's a higher level of service," Urbanski said.
Domestically, more flight attendants are needed as jets are shifted to longer-range flights, she said. Some of the shorter routes that used to be flown by regular United jets are now served by regional jets staffed by flight attendants from outside the union.