Airlines get serious about hiring again

USA TODAY, September, 2007 by Barbara De Lollis

After nearly six years of shrinking their workforces, most of the USA's biggest airlines are finally hiring again.

But the big carriers are finding that it's a different game than their last employment buildup during the travel boom ended in 2001. After years on the hiring sidelines, they're finding that, for some jobs in some locations, the ready pools of applicants they once enjoyed have dwindled.

The jobs they're offering have been devalued by deep cuts in pay and benefits during post-9/11 business reorganizations inside or outside bankruptcy court. And although airline jobs continue to carry the prized perk of free travel, fuller airliners are making it much harder for workers and their families to exercise the privilege.

The result: Airlines...