United May Expand Its Payroll by 4,000

United Airlines plans to hire as many as 4,000 employees this year as it invests in customer service and replaces workers who left during its three years in Chapter 11.

The airline, a unit of UAL Corp., expects to make the hires as it expands flight capacity by as much as 3% this year, said a spokeswoman for the Elk Grove, Ill.-based company.

UAL exited bankruptcy protection Feb. 1 with about 53,200 workers, or almost 24,000 fewer than when it filed for Bankruptcy Court protection in 2002.

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