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AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — After a difficult summer of delays, cancellations and lost luggage for travelers, U.S. airlines are now on a hiring spree to keep up with demand for flights.

“On average, we’re adding 100 new flight attendants each and every month,” Steve Schuller, vice president of human resources at Frontier Airlines, said.

The Denver-based airline also just launched a cadet program to train up to 35 people per month who wish to become commercial pilots. They do not need any experience flying to be accepted.

Frontier said their focus on hiring more staff is due to their growth. The airline, which currently has about 110 aircraft in its fleet, has 230 more on order.

However, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, staffing levels at passenger airlines were at record lows in 2021. While Schuller maintains that Frontier’s hiring spree is due to growth, he said the airline has also been affected by staffing shortages.

“It’s fair to say the labor market has gotten really challenging over the last two to three years. We’ve seen a lot of attrition over the last year,” Schuller said.

While people are leaving for many different reasons, recruits are attracted to the industry for its unique benefits.

“I didn’t want a regular nine to five. I hate being in an office 24/7,” Timothy King said.

King is training to be a flight attendant at Frontier Airlines. He is making the career change after previously working for a company that operates bars and restaurants at airports.

“I think the biggest [surprise] was finding out that I’m a firefighter, I’m an EMT in the sky, that it’s not just about service,” he said.

After his four weeks of training in which he must learn medical skills, safety protocols, how to use emergency equipment, de-escalation tactics and complete a jump down the emergency slide, King will join one of the largest employment surges the airline industry has ever seen.

According to the USDOT, there are more people working for commercial passenger airlines today than there were before the pandemic.

“We have a surplus of pilots. We have a surplus of flight attendants right now,” Schuller said. “Year to date, we’ve had 20,000 applications for the flight attendant role alone. So it’s not a volume issue, it’s just about hiring those people, getting them trained for success in the role.”