JetBlue Airways reportedly calls flight attendants back to work

US-based JetBlue Airways has reportedly issued a memo, informing its flight attendants, who took two-months of leave, to report back to work early given the growing travel demand.

This move comes as several airlines are witnessing an increase in bookings, indicating that the airline industry has begun to recover after losing $35bn last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company’s memo to flight attendants, which was seen by CNBC, reads: “As we enter a new phase of the pandemic with case counts going down and vaccination rates going up, our focus is now getting ready to safely ramp up our operations for a busy summer season and our Inflight Crewmembers are critical to our recovery opportunity.”

The airline informed its flight attendants they would have to come back a month early and undergo the federally mandated training before 22 April.

JetBlue’s CEO Robin Hayes in an interview with CNBC said: “We’ve seen a significant increase in people booking over the last few weeks, both March and into the spring and summer.”

Last year, US carriers encouraged staff to opt for buyouts or go on leaves of absence to reduce labour costs in the wake of the drop in air travel demand due to Covid-19.

With the demand now picking up for air travel, carriers seem to be optimistic about the recovery. Spirit Airlines has begun hiring pilots and flight attendants this month.

JetBlue Airways reported a large increase in air travel demand this month. Its daily revenue reached $6m at the start of this month even though the airline has not reached cash-break-even levels, for which it needs to achieve a daily revenue of $13m-$15m.