DALLAS (AP) – Southwest Airlines plans to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour for about 7,000 employees, citing the need to attract and retain workers as the aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic.
Southwest said Friday the increases are due to go into effect August 1st.
The airline said the salary increases for new hires will be 7-11% and will cover call center operators, customer service agents, skycaps and others. For some, the company has to negotiate with the unions.
“Southwest is continuously working to attract and retain the best candidates for vacancies,” said spokesman Brad Hawkins. “As part of this ongoing effort, Southwest is increasing minimum wage rates so that all hourly employees earn at least $ 15 an hour.”
The Southwest announcement comes as air traffic picks up again at the start of the summer vacation season after the pandemic turned last year’s busy season into a disaster. The number of people passing security checkpoints at US airports has exceeded the 2 million mark seven times in the past two weeks, reaching a level not seen since early March 2020.
However, according to figures from the Transportation Security Administration, domestic travel this month is still 27% below June 2019.
Dallas-based Southwest carries more passengers within the United States than any other airline and is less dependent than its competitors American, Delta and United on business travel, which is still in a deep slump. These factors have helped Southwest outperform other airlines this year – it made a small profit in the first quarter thanks to federal pandemic aid after losing $ 3 billion in 2020.
Southwest has about 56,000 employees, up from about 61,000 last year, according to a government filing. The company announced on Wednesday that long-time CEO Gary Kelly will step down this coming February and be replaced by Robert Jordan, the airline’s executive vice president of corporate services.
The news of the raise was previously reported by Bloomberg.
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