United Airlines plans to boost its starting hourly wage for certain Denver positions to almost $20 on March 13.
The pay bump to $19.64 per hour applies to customer service and ramp service employees for both full- and part-time roles, according to a memo sent by Matt Miller, vice president of the Denver hub operations.
“Our hub continues to be one of the fastest growing for our company, so we must remain competitive within the marketplace in order to attract, and retain, the highest quality employees to serve our United customers,” Miller wrote in the memo.
United is looking to fill about 250 open roles for ramp service employees and around 100 open roles for customer service representatives. The airline currently employs more than 7,000 Denver-based team members, with up to 3,000 more unionized jobs expected to be added over the next few years.
The company also aims to introduce over 500 new aircraft between this year and 2024.
“Our higher, entry level pay is just another way we’re aggressively recruiting the best Denver has to offer,” Miller said in an emailed statement.
Denver is one of United’s seven domestic . The airline, headquartered in Chicago, is the at Denver International Airport and has been a community fixture for more than 80 years.
DIA was the third-busiest airport in the world based on passenger traffic during the first half of last year. Before the pandemic, DIA was the 16th busiest airport internationally and ranked fifth domestically.
United also introduced its bag drop shortcut Thursday, a free service that streamlines the bag check process by letting customers use the airline’s mobile app to check their luggage at a bag drop shortcut location. It’s now available in Denver and other hubs.
