"With fuel where it is, we're staying pretty cost conscious," he said. "We're not adding any heads where we don't have to. We've been able to pass on costs with our increases. But the risk for us is when you're not able to pass that on from a financial perspective."

Although the carrier is not growing its accounting and finance departments, IT head count will increase in the second quarter. The airline's IT staff will work on a project that allows US Airways to expand selling premium aisle and exit row seats from its website to the entire ticket distribution system. The company is focused on hiring for areas that will pay back, Kerr said.

CFO reluctance to hire accounting and finance staff is typical in such economic circumstances, according to Brett Good, senior district president for staffing firm Robert Half International, which conducted the poll.

"Accounting departments tend to lag so it's not a big surprise," he explains. "I think the sign in the survey that is most encouraging is the CFOs are optimistic about growth moving forward. And typically with more confidence comes more spending, more hiring."

He also notes that while CFOs may not be hiring accountants, they are adding staff as they discover that "the volume of work is exceeding capacity."