Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport plans to host a job fair in the domestic terminal atrium next week amid a labor shortage.
Airlines, concessionaires and other companies at airports around the country have struggled to hire enough workers to keep up with the rapid rebound in traffic in recent months. That has caused long lines, wait times and frustrations for travelers.
The job fair scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will have about 40 employers recruiting workers each day.
Among those hiring are airport concessionaires, car rental companies, the Atlanta Police Department, the City of Atlanta, the airport and contractors including the Atlanta Airlines Terminal Co., TBI Airport Management, Hallmark Aviation and Accufleet International.
Those interested in attending can pre-register at www.atl.com/careerfair. On Tuesday employers in government, security, cargo, ground transportation, airline support and maintenance will be at the job fair, while on Wednesday concessionaires will be hiring.
Face masks are required in the airport, which is advising attendees to consider taking MARTA. Hourly parking in the parking decks costs $3 an hour for the first two hours and $4 an hour for the following four hours. Economy parking costs $3 an hour.
Congressional hearings this week have focused on labor shortages, including a House hearing Tuesday on the Transportation Security Administration’s strategy for addressing increased summer travel.
At a House transportation committee’s hearing on the aviation workforce, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) said he was recently at the Atlanta airport “and only two businesses in the entire concourse were open due to workforce shortages.”
Shuttered storefronts mean longer lines for restaurants and eateries that are open, causing bottlenecks for travelers in a rush to catch their next flight.
Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Balram Bheodari has called for all concessions to reopen by Aug. 1.
But airport employers are competing with many other companies in a tight job market. The airport usually hosts two career fairs a year at the Georgia International Convention Center, but its fair held last month drew a smaller crowd of job seekers than usual, and officials said they planned to hold monthly job fairs this summer.
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