Delta Air Lines (DAL Quick QuoteDAL - Free Report) is looking to hire 1,500 flight attendants to cater to the expected increase in air-travel demand for summer 2022 and thereafter. This is in addition to 1,500 flight attendants already hired last year before the pandemic began, the company said in a statement. In total Delta, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), will have 3,000 flight attendants for summer 2022.

The airline requires all new hires to be fully vaccinated before their training starts. Amid rising coronavirus cases, many airline companies, including Zacks #3 Ranked United Airlines (UAL Quick QuoteUAL - Free Report) , have imposed vaccine mandates on their employees. Delta has taken a different approach to push employees to get vaccinated. The carrier recently announced that effective Nov 1, it will add a monthly surcharge of $200 on healthcare plans of unvaccinated employees.

Delta has lately been making consistent efforts to cater to the anticipated recovery in air-travel demand. Last month, the carrier added 30 A321neo aircraft to its order book as part of an agreement with Airbus. Previously, in April, Delta had converted 25 Airbus A321neo purchase rights into firm orders and added options for 25 more.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Price

Delta Air Lines, Inc. price | Delta Air Lines, Inc. Quote

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the airline space are Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS Quick QuoteVLRS - Free Report) and SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW Quick QuoteSKYW - Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Controladora Vuela and SkyWest have rallied more than 100% and 35% in a year’s time respectively.