Last year, American Airlines offered long-term leaves of absence to flight attendants and other employees in order to cut costs while it struggled with a steep drop in travel caused for Covid-19. However, the airline recently cancelled those extended leaves for nearly 3,000 flight attendants to prepare for the upcoming holiday season. Additionally, American plans to hire 800 new flight attendants by next March. Delta Air Lines announced similar plans, expecting to hire anywhere between 4,00o and 5,000 workers this year, including 1,300 reservations agents and 1,000 pilots.

The moves are the latest indication that leisure travel in the U.S. is recovering more quickly from the pandemic than airlines expected. When the pandemic hit, the number of people flying in the U.S. plunged below 100,000 on some days, a level not seen in decades. This year, it has climbed from less than 700,000 a day in early February to 2 million a day in July. Read more.