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Just a heads up, this is going to be a very busy summer. From American Public Media, this is Marketplace.

In Portland, Oregon, I'm Rimechres and for Kyra's doll, it is Monday, May 8th. Good to have you along.

So officially, summer travel season is less than three weeks away. And if you're like me and haven't booked your vacation plans yet, we should get on that.

But also this first story might help. United Airlines is predicting bookings for Memorial Day weekend will run 12% higher than last year.

That's also slightly above what they were before the pandemic back in 2019. Meanwhile, Delta execs on their most recent quarterly earnings call said that three quarters of the seats on international flights for the summer.

Are already booked and that I should remind you was a few weeks ago. So what does this all mean for airlines? Here is Marketplaces, Samantha Fields.

Summer is always one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. It's right up there with some of the other busier travel seasons like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And Andrew Perrini, the chief commercial officer at Tulsa International Airport says it lasts a whole lot longer.

A couple months of demand versus those one or two weeks out of the year.

Last summer, airlines were not prepared for just how desperate people were to travel. Most didn't have nearly enough staff to meet the huge demand.

So to get ready for this year, Mike Stangle at aerodynamic advisory says airlines have been hiring for all kinds of positions.

Flight attendance pilots, your airport workers that are employed by the airlines, the ground staff, all your reservation agents that you talk to on the phone when you're booking tickets.

And now heading into this summer travel season.

When you look at U.S. airlines, their total employment is actually above pre-COVID levels.

Even so, airlines are still actively looking to hire for pretty much all positions. Henry Hartveld at Atmosphere Research Group says one in particular.

They would like to get even more pilots in place to operate the aircraft. They have and the aircraft they expect to have and to account for pilots who are retiring.

United says it hired more pilots last year than ever before, more than 2300. But it still needs more, along with more technicians, more flight attendants, more reservation and gate agents, and all sorts of corporate jobs.

So do most airlines. Hartveld says.

There's probably never been a better time to start an airline career. Salaries are up, hourly wages are up, benefits are better.

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