The service cited an elevated demand for extremely certified pilots throughout the business. With a doubtlessly wider pool of candidates, Southwest stated the change will enable it to stay selective.

An airline spokesman stated Friday that the service’s recruiting change aligned with hiring at or above Federal Aviation Administration necessities. “Our strong and rigorous flight-operations coaching program has not modified, and all present and future first-officer candidates should go all parts of the curriculum previous to flying for Southwest,” he stated. 

Pilots have been a chokepoint as Southwest and different airways look to develop to fulfill surging urge for food for journey within the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and as competitors for aviators has develop into fierce. Southwest is seeking to develop its ranks by 1,700 pilots this 12 months, internet of retirements.

Pilots should have at the least 1,500 hours of whole flying expertise to qualify as co-pilots at U.S. airways underneath federal guidelines, with some exceptions for former navy pilots or graduates of schools and universities with skilled aviation packages.

As well as, many main carriers need new hires to have spent a sure period of time working extra complicated planes that fly at increased altitudes and are extra just like what they might function on the airline. That’s the kind of expertise they might acquire flying for a regional airline, for instance, moderately than in smaller coaching plane. 

Some airways, resembling

Delta Air Traces Inc.,

require pilots to have spent 1,000 hours flying turbine-powered plane. Airways’ standards range, and in some circumstances are described as preferences—that may make an applicant extra aggressive—moderately than necessities.

Southwest executives have stated they aren’t experiencing any challenges with hiring or hanging onto aviators—one thing its pilots union has raised alarms about as contract negotiations have grown contentious.

“We’re having no bother attracting terrific pilots to Southwest Airways, no bother filling lessons,” Chief Govt

Bob Jordan

stated throughout an earnings convention name late final month.

Tim Genc,

chief adviser at FAPA.aero, a pilot-career advisory agency, stated there have been related tweaks rising all through the business. Some constitution carriers have lowered or eradicated turbine-time necessities, he stated, and different airways have eased college-degree necessities. With fewer pilots coming from the navy than they as soon as did, different carriers might observe go well with.

“It’s not that corporations are reducing their requirements—moderately simply attempting to forged a wider internet to have a look at extra functions to determine one of the best candidates,” he stated. “The key airways employed extra pilots final 12 months than ever earlier than, and nonetheless got here up in need of their wants.”

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com