American Airlines plans to hire about 1,500 new pilots over the next five years, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based carrier said Monday. In a letter to American employees included in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, chairman, president and CEO Tom Horton said the 1,500 new pilots will be in addition to the airline’s offer to recall “all of our furloughed pilots.” American said in a statement that it “currently anticipates the need to initially hire approximately 45 to 50 pilots per month through at least summer 2014, including pilots from [regional affiliate] American Eagle Airlines and the appropriate balance from external sources.” Horton noted that American generated $2.34 billion in revenue in August, up 7% year-over-year and the most revenue ever generated by the company in the month of August. The carrier’s strong financial performance, the large number of Airbus and Boeing narrowbody aircraft it has on order and new FAA pilot rest and duty time rules set to start next year all contributed to the decision to recruit and hire 1,500 new pilots. The job posting for the new pilots will officially become public Tuesday. American, which has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since November 2011, aims to emerge from Chapter 11 and merge with US Airways as soon as it either prevails in an antitrust trial versus the US Department of Justice (DOJ) or it and US Airways reach a settlement with DOJ. “We are making good progress on the merger front, as we continue to prepare a strong case for the trial in November and remain open to discussions with the Justice Department regarding a settlement on appropriate terms,” Horton told American workers.