Air travel is also expected to increase because of changing demographics (particularly the maturing of the Baby Boomers into their peak earnings and travel years), migration of family members to other parts of the country, and higher standard of living and increased leisure time. A growing, increasingly global economy means more business travel as well.
In 1990, U.S. carriers handled a record 466 million passengers, according to Department of Transportation figures (com-pared with 275 million in 1978, the year that deregulation was initiated). Moreover, surveys have shown that three out of four U.S. adults have flown at least once in their lives (compared with two out of three in 1980).
Finally, the FAA forecasts that the U.S. aviation industry should average 5.2 percent growth in revenue passenger miles system wide (domestic and international) between 1992 and 2002.
Hiring Trends
The major forces affecting the travel industry-deregulation, consolidation, technologization, and globalization are nowhere as apparent as in the airline industry and directly affect hiring trends.
Deregulation reshaped airline economics and put pressure on marketing and sales competition then fostered consolidation in terms of mergers, acquisitions, and failures. Now, globalization is producing alliances and outright ownership of U.S. airlines by flag carriers of other nations. More sophisticated computerized reservations systems give airlines the edge to managing their product and delivering it to the user, resulting in a demand for computer specialists.
The roller coaster pattern of profits and losses in the airline industry against a backdrop of economic cycles is reflected in its hiring (and firing) patterns. Between 1980 and 1982, a period of back to back recessions in the United States, the airline industry hired only 1,860 jet pilots and only 8,000 flight attendants then, with the economy rebounding and expanding in 1983 to 1985, the industry hired 14,700 jet pilots and more than 30,000 flight attendants, according to Airline Economics, Inc. Hiring dwindled a gain in 1990 when only 7,700 pilots were hired.
"People interested in the airlines must be aware that it is an extremely volatile business," asserted Fran Hamilton, manager of central employment for TWA. "With deregulation, companies come and go, jobs come and go. This isn't the place for a person who needs security."
Being successful in the airline business, she advised, depends on much more than "love people, love travel. A person must be flexible and resilient-someone who can handle non-routine and unpredictable situations. There are a lot of technically qualified people who don't succeed because they can't handle the environment. The cultural environment is more significant than technical qualifications."
Employees are frequently asked to relocate. "An airplane can go anywhere," Hamilton explained. "In deregulation, airlines have to respond to keen competition. There is no way of anticipating how long the carrier will be in a market. Routes, schedules, fares, capacity are all shifting fast, and individuals are affected."
Despite the insecurity, there is no shortage of people wanting to plunge into the airline business.
'There is an aura to the airlines, a special feeling you have even after you join, even among the administrative and accounting people that never see an airport," said USAir's director of personnel services.
Moreover, compensation rates tend to be high compared with most of the travel industry jobs, and airline employees usually have coveted travel benefits on their own and other airlines.
One of the reasons that jobs are hard to get is that few people leave the airlines voluntarily. Many jobs are unique to the airlines, such as pilot, and salaries are largely based on seniority. A pilot earning six figures at one airline would face a substantial drop in salary by moving to another.
Largely because the attrition rates are so low, advancement at an airline depends upon how swiftly it is growing-in routes or fleet. Hamilton noted that at TWA "it is possible to jump into a responsible position, but that's not likely to happen fast. The competition in the organization is keen. Movement in management ranks is slower." An up-and-coming carrier or even a strong regional or commuter carrier may well offer a faster track up the career ladder.
Job Opportunities
Though deregulation has created new demand for marketing computer and financial professionals, it is still the pilots, flight attendants, customer service representatives, reservationists, mechanics, and engineers who account for the vast majority of positions.
Individual airlines vary tremendously in terms of the management style, work environment, and career opportunities they present.
Annual compensation per airline employee (including salary) ranges from about $12,000 for a new flight attendant to more than $100,000 for a senior airline captain. Senior management executives are also well compensated compared with other travel counterparts. Some examples include:
Corporate Account Manager, $38,000 Manager of Agency Sales, $38,000 Resident Sales Representative, $40,000 International Pricing Analyst, $40,000 Supervisor Passenger Services, $45,000, Manager Customer Service, $50,000, Leisure Market Development Manager, $50,000, Regional Marketing Manager, $55,000, Director-Yield Management, $65,000, Vice President-Cargo Marketing and Sales, $90,000, Vice President-Passenger Sales, $92,000, Regional Vice President, $102,000.
However, after the incredible expansion of the 1980s, the industry started off the 1990s with a sudden, dramatic consolidation, resulting in vigorous downsizing of the labor force. As a result, the labor market was glutted with high-paid, experienced professionals, which forced salaries down. One foreign flag carrier launching a new service out of New York, for example, was offering to pay only $40,000 for a marketing manager with 15 years of experience including five years in the airlines. Such a period of retrenchment should last until the middle of the decade when opportunities should rebound.
