America West Airlines said it plans to hire more than 1,000 and lease four additional planes as part of a plan to boost the number of passengers it carries by 10 percent next year.
The new employees would boost the company's work force of 13,000 by at least 7.7 percent.
The unit of America West Holdings Corp. said in a prepared statement that it's adding one Airbus SAS A320 from Boullioun Aviation Services Inc. and has agreed to lease three other A320 aircraft from American International Group Inc.'s International Lease Finance unit. The company had said it expects to add two other Airbus aircraft to its fleet next year.
Chief executive Douglas Parker said earlier this month that the company will begin talks next year with Airbus and Boeing Co. to replace at least 50 aircraft. America West has boosted revenue passenger miles, or revenue from carrying one passenger a mile, 7.3 percent in the first 11 months of this year and this month added service between Phoenix and San Jose, Costa Rica.