Every airline careers page says the same thing: we're hiring. We counted the openings instead. The totals are real, and what the airlines are hiring for will surprise anyone googling pilot jobs.
By WingmanPro Research · Published August 28, 2026
On August 28, 2026, employers had 32,762 open aviation jobs posted on WingmanPro. 1,672 of them come from US passenger and cargo airlines and their regionals. This is the count, airline by airline, with the two roles everyone asks about broken out. We will refresh it monthly.
| Airline | Open jobs | Flight attendant | Pilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | 1,509 | 0 | 3 |
| American Airlines group (incl. Envoy, PSA, Piedmont) | 689 | 12 | 19 |
| Delta Air Lines | 207 | 2 | 3 |
| United Airlines | 163 | 13 | 5 |
| Breeze Airways | 135 | 29 | 10 |
| Frontier | 81 | 3 | 0 |
| Southwest | 80 | 0 | 7 |
| Atlas Air | 79 | 0 | 3 |
| SkyWest | 78 | 7 | 13 |
| JetBlue | 67 | 1 | 0 |
| Allegiant | 62 | 0 | 1 |
| Alaska and Horizon | 43 | 4 | 22 |
| Sun Country | 26 | 0 | 3 |
Start with the number that looks like a misprint. UPS has 1,509 open jobs and exactly 3 of them are for pilots. The brown machine is hiring the building: package handlers, ramp crews, maintenance, operations, logistics. Median posted pay across UPS listings with a number is $54,600, which is a warehouse figure, not a cockpit one. UPS is the biggest airline employer on the board and almost none of it flies.
The American Airlines group is the largest passenger operation hiring right now at 689 openings, and most of that sits at its wholly owned regionals. Envoy alone accounts for 253. That has been the airline pattern for a year: mainline hires in scheduled waves, the regionals hire continuously because they are the ones bleeding crews upward.
If you fly for a living, the airline with the most open pilot postings right now is not one of the big four. It is Alaska and Horizon, with 22, followed by American's regional group at 19 and SkyWest at 13. Mainline pilot hiring in 2026 moves through cadet pipelines and interview windows more than through standing job ads, so a small posted count does not mean a closed seniority list. But posted demand is posted demand, and right now it points at the regionals and the West Coast.
Cabin crew is stranger. Breeze Airways is the most aggressive flight attendant recruiter in the country at 29 open listings. United has 13, including one restricted to German speakers, which tells you exactly which routes are short-staffed. Hawaiian has 10. And two carriers you might not expect are recruiting on the US market: Wizz Air with 20 cabin listings and Riyadh Air with 9, both stocking up ahead of expansion.
All US airlines together post 1,672 jobs. RTX, one defense contractor, posts 4,302. The whole airline industry, regionals included, is being out-hired two and a half times over by a single aerospace company, and eleven times over by the aerospace and defense sector as a whole. If you are certificated and flexible about what the machine does, the bigger line forms outside the factory, not the terminal.
UPS, with 1,509 open jobs, though only 3 of them are for pilots — the rest are package handlers, ramp, maintenance and logistics. The largest passenger operation hiring is the American Airlines group at 689 openings, most of it at its wholly owned regionals.
Alaska and Horizon, with 22 open pilot listings, ahead of the American Airlines regional group at 19 and SkyWest at 13. Mainline pilot hiring moves through cadet pipelines and interview windows more than standing job ads, so a low posted count does not mean a closed list.
Breeze Airways, at 29 open cabin listings, followed by United at 13 and Hawaiian at 10. Two carriers recruiting on the US market may surprise you: Wizz Air posts 20 cabin listings and Riyadh Air 9, both stocking up ahead of expansion.
No, and it is not close. Every US airline and regional combined posts 1,672 jobs. RTX alone posts 4,302, out-hiring the entire airline industry two and a half times over, and the aerospace and defense sector as a whole out-hires it eleven times over.
Counts are open published listings posted on WingmanPro on August 28, 2026, grouped by employer name, with wholly owned regional carriers rolled into their parent where noted. Flight attendant and pilot columns match listing roles and titles, the same rule our flight attendant salary report uses. Pay figures are medians of posted ranges, annualized the way the board's own pay filter does it. This report refreshes monthly; the listings behind it are live on the board today.