Delta Airlines received no less than 22,000 applications for 300 cabin crew openings in one week, “at the rate of 2 CVs per minute”, reported the American company’s CEO.
In 2010, the company had received a similar tsunami, with 100,000 applications for 1,000 openings advertised. US Airways experienced a similar phenomenon with 14,000 applications for 420 openings.
This exuberance is explained by an unemployment rate which now stands at 7.9% and especially by an industry that promises significant benefits to its employees.
Faced with the mass of applications received, recruiters plan to increase the number of recruits to 400. Recruiters report that 30% of the positions are intended for candidates who speak several languages, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin and Portuguese being undeniable assets, given Delta’s planned global expansion and in particular towards Asia, with Tokyo and Shanghai.
Candidates selected will be seen in an interview in January and candidates hired will start flying in June, at the height of the tourist season.
Note: Airlines in the USA employed 384,310 people at the end of 2012, of which 2/3 worked in the 5 largest companies which include Delta and United Airlines (Source: American federal authorities)