Southwest Airlines intends to raise least compensation to $15 an hour for around 7,000 representatives, refering to the need to attract and keep laborers as the airline industry keeps on recuperating from the pandemic.

Southwest said Friday that it means for the raises to produce results on Aug. 1. The aircraft said that raises for a portion of the specialists will require negotiations with labor unions.

“Southwest continually works to attract and retain the best candidates for open positions,” said spokesman Brad Hawkins. “As part of this ongoing effort, Southwest is increasing minimum pay rates so that all hourly employees will make at least $15 per hour.”

Southwest’s declaration comes as air travel gets up start of the summer vacation season after the pandemic transformed last year’s peak season into a disaster. The number of individuals going through security checkpoints at U.S. airports has topped 2 million seven times in the previous fourteen days, hitting levels unheard of since early March 2020.

In any case, domestic travel this month is as yet running 27% below June 2019, as per figures from the Transportation Security Administration.

Dallas-based Southwest carries a bigger number of travelers within the United States than some other aircraft and is less reliant than rivals American, Delta and United on business travel, which is as yet in a deep slump. Those factors have assisted Southwest with faring better compared to different aircrafts this year — it turned a small profit in the first quarter, on account of government pandemic help, subsequent to losing $3 billion of every 2020.