United to pause pilot hiring for two months on Boeing delivery delays, memo shows
(Reuters) -United Airlines will pause pilot hiring in May and June due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
"United will slow the pace of pilot hires this year due to continued aircraft certification delay and manufacturing delays at Boeing," the memo shared with all pilots said on Thursday.
Boeing is facing increased scrutiny due to a Jan. 5 incident when a door plug blew off a brand new 737 MAX plane mid-flight.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has also barred the planemaker from expanding production of its best-selling 737 MAX narrowbody jets.
According to the memo, United would not be able to grow in pace with its 2024 expectations due to continued delays at Boeing.
"We had contractual deliveries for 80 MAX 10s this year alone, but those aircraft aren't even certified yet and it is impossible to know when they will arrive," said the memo from Marc Champion, VP flight operations, and Kirk Limacher, VP flight operations planning and development.
United cut its 2024 forecast for MAX 8 delivery from Boeing to 37 from 43 aircraft. It also expects to receive 15 fewer MAX 9s this year, according to its annual filing from last week.
Earlier this year, United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline would build a new fleet plan that did not include the largest member of the 737 MAX family due to regulatory and delivery delays.
New hire classes for United pilots are expected to resume in July, the memo showed.
The news was reported earlier on Thursday by CNBC.
(Reporting by Pratyush Thakur, Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru and Rajesh Kumar Singh in New York; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shilpi Majumdar)
