(Reuters) -Delta Air Lines Inc aims to hire more than 1,000 pilots by next summer, according to a company memo seen by Reuters on Monday, highlighting an uneven rebound in air travel as the industry works to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
The major U.S. carrier also said it expects U.S. leisure travel volume this month to return to pre-pandemic levels and added it was seeing more business travelers return to the skies, Chief of Operations John Laughter wrote to operations employees.
“We still have a way to go to build back our international network but have already seen welcome openings in markets like Spain, France, Italy and Greece,” he said.
The Atlanta-based carrier anticipates travel restrictions easing across the Atlantic in the second half of 2021, Laughter added.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
