Roughly one-third of the hires will be people who speak the language in some of the overseas cities where Delta flies. It's looking for speakers of Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, and Hindi.
Delta says it has received 22,000 applications. CEO Richard Anderson says in a message to employees that Delta is getting two applications every minute.
Delta plans to begin interviewing applicants in January, with training beginning in the spring.
Starting two years ago, Delta added 1,000 flight attendants, including recalling 425 from furlough.
The hiring doesn't mean Delta is growing. It has said it will do the same amount of flying next year as it did in 2012.
