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BTS Home > Press Releases > 2008
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December 2007 Passenger Airline Employment Up 3.7 Percent from December 2006

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BTS 9-08
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.7 percent more workers in December 2007 than in December 2006, the 11th consecutive increase in full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 2). FTE calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

The six network carriers all added FTEs from December 2006 to December 2007, the first time since June 2001 that every network airline had year-over-year employment growth in the same month (Table 9). All of the low-cost carriers except ATA Airlines (Table 12), and regional carriers American Eagle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Comair, Horizon Air, Mesaba Airlines, Executive Airlines, Republic Airlines, Trans States, Shuttle America and GoJet Airlines (Table 15) increased their FTEs compared to last year.

Scheduled passenger airlines include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers, or the total industry, are not available for the years before 2003.

The 419,838 FTEs employed by the industry in December, an increase of 394 FTEs from November, was the most in any month since July 2005 (Table 3). The six network carriers employed 249,972 FTEs in December, 59.5 percent of the passenger airline total, while low-cost carriers employed 22.9 percent and regional carriers employed 14.5 percent (Table 4).

American Airlines employed the most FTEs in December among the network carriers, Southwest Airlines employed the most among low-cost carriers, and SkyWest employed the most among regional carriers. Six of the top 10 employers in the industry are network carriers (Table 6).

America West Airlines and US Airways are now operating under a single certificate and began reporting jointly with October data. The combined airline’s employment numbers are included with the low-cost carriers while US Airways’ previous numbers remain with network carriers and America West’s previous numbers are listed separately as a low-cost carrier.

The merged airline, which is listed in the low-cost category, reported 32,707 FTEs for December 2007. In December 2006, US Airways reported 19,422 FTEs in the network category and America West reported 13,038 FTEs in the low-cost category for a total of 32,460.

Network Airlines

FTEs at the six remaining network carriers, not including US Airways in previous years, increased 2.7 percent in December 2007 compared to December 2006, the eighth consecutive monthly gain from the same month of the previous year. Prior to an increase in May, the network group had reduced FTEs from the previous year every month since September 2001 (Table 7).

All the network carriers increased FTEs from December 2006 to December 2007. The year-to-year increases were Delta Air Lines 8.4 percent, Alaska Airlines 4.7 percent, Continental Airlines 4.5 percent, Northwest Airlines 1.3 percent, American 0.3 percent, and United Airlines 0.2 percent (Table 9).

FTEs at five network carriers declined during the four years from December 2003 to December 2007. The exception was Continental with a 5.4 percent increase (Table 8). The biggest percentage decline was at Northwest, down 21.7 percent, a reduction of 8,331 FTEs, followed by Delta at 17.5 percent. The other FTE decreases during that time were United, down 10.7 percent; American, down 8.1 percent; and Alaska, down 0.6 percent (Table 9).

Low-Cost Airlines

Low-cost carrier FTEs in December continued the 16-month trend of increasing from the same month of the previous year (Tables 10, 11). The trend continued even without combining US Airways’ numbers, which were listed in previous months in the network airline category, with America West’s numbers for December.

All the low-cost carriers had FTE increases from December 2006 to December 2007 except ATA, down 5.5 percent. Frontier Airlines reported an increase of more than 15 percent (Table 12).

Employment data for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, have been included with low-cost carriers for 2004 and 2005 for consistency.

Low-cost carriers are those that the industry recognizes as operating under a low-cost business model, with lower infrastructure costs and higher productivity. Two new low-cost carriers, SkyBus Airlines and Virgin America, began reporting employment data in August. SkyBus reported 381 FTEs in December and Virgin America reported 735 FTEs (Table 12).

Regional Airlines

Regional carrier FTEs were up 4.9 percent in December 2007 compared to December 2006 (Table 13).

SkyWest and Go Jet reported the largest increases in the group. SkyWest, with 10,249 FTEs, the most of any regional carrier, employed 16.6 percent more FTEs in December 2007 than December 2006, while Go Jet employed 16.3 percent more (Table 15).

Regional carrier FTEs rose from 55,297 in December 2004 to 61,077 in December 2007, an increase of 4.9 percent (Table 14).

The 10 regional carriers reporting employment data in both 2003 and 2007 employed 18.1 percent more FTEs in December 2007 than in December 2003. Of that group, SkyWest reported the biggest gain, 82.3 percent, followed by ExpressJet at 36.4 percent and American Eagle at 25.4 percent. Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Air Wisconsin Airlines reported fewer FTEs in December 2007 than December 2003 (Table 15).

Regional carrier Compass Airlines began reporting employment data in November. Compass reported 355 FTEs in December (Table 12).

Regional carriers typically provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers’ hub and spoke systems.

Reporting Notes

Airlines that operate at least one aircraft with the capacity to carry combined passengers, cargo and fuel of 18,000 pounds – the payload factor – must report monthly employment statistics.

The Other Carrier category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets, such as Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines in serving the Hawaiian Islands.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of Feb. 12.

Additional airline employment data can be found on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/number_of_employees/. BTS has scheduled release of January airline employment data for March 18.

Table 1: Change in Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Carrier Group

Percent change compared to same month the previous year for the most recent 13 months

Excel | CSV

Month Network Carriers** (Pct. Change) From Table 7 Low-Cost Carriers*** (Pct. Change) From Table 10 Regional Carriers
(Pct. Change) From Table13		 All Passenger Airlines**** (Pct. Change) From Table 2
Dec. 2005-Dec. 2006 -2.9 1.4 3.4 -0.9
Jan. 2006-Jan. 2007 -2.6 4.5 3.0 -0.4
Feb. 2006-Feb. 2007 -2.2 5.0 5.9 0.4
Mar 2006-Mar 2007 -1.4 4.4 5.6 0.7
Apr. 2006-Apr. 2007 -0.7 5.7 5.6 1.4
May 2006-May 2007 0.3 5.3 7.2 2.2
June 2006-June 2007 1.3 5.3 5.1 2.5
July 2006-July 2007 1.5 5.9 4.8 2.8
Aug. 2006-Aug. 2007 1.5 5.3 4.9 2.6
Sept. 2006-Sept. 2007 1.8 6.0 5.2 3.0
Oct. 2006-Oct. 2007 -5.3 34.6 5.5 3.5
Nov. 2006-Nov. 2007 -5.0 35.3 5.1 3.7
Dec. 2006-Dec. 2007 -4.9 34.4 4.9 3.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

***Employment numbers in 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers. The airline discontinued flights on Jan. 5, 2006.

**** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other Carriers generally operate within specific niche markets. They are: Allegiant Air, Aloha Airlines, Boston-Maine Airways, Casino Express Airlines, Continental Micronesia, Eos Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and USA3000 Airlines.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 2: Change in Total Passenger Airline* Full-time Equivalent Employees** from the Previous Year

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Excel | CSV

Month 2004 2005 2006 2007
January -5.6 -0.8 -6.0 -0.4
February -5.3 -1.4 -5.8 0.4
March -4.1 -1.9 -5.4 0.7
April -2.3 -3.1 -4.6 1.4
May -0.8 -3.5 -5.0 2.2
June 0.5 -3.8 -4.8 2.5
July 2.5 -3.5 -5.9 2.8
August 2.2 -5.8 -3.1 2.6
September 2.4 -5.8 -2.6 3.0
October 2.5 -6.0 -2.2 3.5
November 2.2 -6.5 -1.6 3.7
December 0.9 -5.9 -0.9 3.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

** Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 3: Total Passenger Airline* Full-time Equivalent Employees** by Month

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

Month 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Percent Change
2003-2007 2006-2007
January 465.7 435.0 431.5 405.7 404.3 -0.1 0.0
February 459.4 435.0 428.9 404.5 406.0 -0.1 0.0
March 454.3 435.9 427.7 405.1 408.0 -0.1 0.0
April 448.2 437.8 424.1 404.5 410.2 -0.1 0.0
May 443.2 439.6 424.4 403.6 412.4 -0.1 0.0
June 438.9 440.9 424.3 403.8 414.0 -0.1 0.0
July 433.2 444.1 428.5 403.3 414.6 0.0 0.0
August 433.3 443.0 417.5 404.7 415.4 0.0 0.0
September 429.6 440.0 414.5 403.7 416.3 0.0 0.0
October 428.3 439.1 412.7 403.6 417.9 0.0 0.0
November 429.9 439.5 411.0 404.5 419.4 0.0 0.0
December 430.2 434.0 408.8 405.0 419.8 0.0 0.0

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

** Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 4: Total Number of Full-time Equivalent Employees* (FTEs) by Carrier Group, December 2003-2007

FTE Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

  Network** Low-Cost Regional All Passenger Airlines***
2003 306.2 71.3 42.8 430.2
2004 295.7 71.6 55.3 434.0
2005 270.6 70.6 56.5 408.8
2006 262.9 71.6 58.2 405.0
2007 250.0 96.3 61.1 419.8
Pct. Change 2003-2007**** -18.4% 35.1% 10.5% -3.3%
Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2007 59.5% 22.9% 14.5%  

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

*** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

**** Percent change comparison for regional airlines and for all passenger airlines is for 2004 to 2007 because of the number of airlines in these categories that did not meet the standard for reporting monthly employment numbers.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 5: Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Carrier Group, Year-to-Year Change, December 2003-2007

Percent Change from the previous year

Excel | CSV

  Network** Low-Cost Regional*** All Passenger Airlines****
2003 -14.1 7.5 N/A N/A
2004 -3.5 0.5 N/A N/A
2005 -8.5 -1.4 2.2 -5.8
2006 -2.9 1.4 3.0 -0.9
2007 -4.9 34.4 4.9 3.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

*** Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers, or the total industry, are not appropriate for the years before 2003.

**** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, December 2007

Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*

Excel | CSV

Rank Airline* Total FTE Employees (000) Carrier Group Top 10 Airlines December 2006
1 American 73.2 Network American
2 United 52.4 Network United
3 Delta 48.4 Network Delta
4 Continental 36.0 Network Continental
5 Southwest 34.4 Low Cost Southwest
6 US Airways 32.7 Low Cost Northwest
7 Northwest 30.0 Network US Airways
8 Sky West 10.2 Regional America West
9 JetBlue 10.1 Low Cost JetBlue
10 Alaska 9.9 Network Alaska

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Table 7: Network Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* Change from the Previous Year**

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Excel | CSV

Month 2004 2005 2006 2007
January -12.5 -4.1 -8.1 -2.6
February -11.0 -4.6 -7.8 -2.2
March -8.7 -5.0 -7.4 -1.4
April -6.6 -6.5 -6.7 -0.7
May -4.9 -6.6 -7.0 0.3
June -3.6 -7.0 -6.8 1.3
July -2.0 -5.9 -8.1 1.5
August -1.7 -9.0 -4.7 1.5
September -1.7 -8.9 -4.1 1.8
October -1.4 -8.9 -4.0 -5.3
November -1.8 -9.3 -3.4 -5.0
December -3.5 -8.5 -2.9 -4.9

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 8: Network Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month**

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

  2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Percent Change
2003-2007 2006-2007
January 348.7 305.1 292.7 269.1 262.0 -24.9 -2.6
February 342.3 304.7 290.9 268.2 262.4 -23.3 -2.2
March 333.8 304.6 289.3 267.8 264.1 -20.9 -1.4
April 327.2 305.6 285.8 266.6 264.8 -19.1 -0.7
May 321.9 306.0 285.8 265.8 266.6 -17.2 0.3
June 317.5 306.1 284.8 265.3 268.6 -15.4 1.3
July 312.5 306.3 288.2 264.9 268.7 -14.0 1.5
August 310.6 305.3 277.8 264.8 268.8 -13.5 1.5
September 307.6 302.4 275.4 264.0 268.8 -12.6 1.8
October 305.3 300.9 274.1 263.0 249.0 -18.4 -5.3
November 305.7 300.2 272.4 263.0 249.9 -18.3 -5.0
December 306.2 295.7 270.6 262.9 250.0 -18.4 -4.9
Monthly Average 324.7 305.1 285.6 266.3 262.0 -19.3 -1.6

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways numbers’ are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 9: Network Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2003-2007**

(Ranked by December 2007 FTEs)

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

Rank   2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Percent Change
2003-2007 2006-2007
1 American 79.7 76.7 74.8 73.0 73.2 -8.1 0.3
2 United 58.7 57.8 53.6 52.3 52.4 -10.7 0.2
3 Delta 58.7 56.7 48.6 44.6 48.4 -17.5 8.4
4 Continental 34.2 31.8 32.7 34.5 36.0 5.4 4.5
5 Northwest 38.4 38.7 31.9 29.6 30.0 -21.7 1.3
6 Alaska 9.9 9.3 9.0 9.4 9.9 -0.6 4.7
7 US Airways 26.7 24.7 20.1 19.4 N/A N/A N/A
  Total 306.2 295.7 270.6 262.9 250.0 -18.4 -4.9

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 10: Change in Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* from the Previous Year**

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Excel | CSV

Month 2004 2005 2006 2007
January 8.4 0.5 -5.3 4.5
February 6.9 0.6 -4.1 5.0
March 0.5 0.0 -3.0 4.4
April 0.6 -0.7 -2.2 5.7
May 0.8 -1.0 -2.1 5.3
June 1.5 -1.2 -2.0 5.3
July 2.3 -1.5 -2.6 5.9
August 1.1 -0.7 -0.8 5.3
September 0.7 -1.0 -0.4 6.0
October -0.2 -1.2 0.8 34.6
November 0.5 -2.5 0.9 35.3
December 0.5 -1.4 1.4 34.4

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

Note: Employment numbers in 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers. The airline discontinued flights on Jan. 5, 2006.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 11: Low-Cost Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month**

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

  2003 2004*** 2005*** 2006 2007**** Percent Change
2003-2007 2006-2007
January 65.7 71.2 71.6 67.8 70.8 7.8 4.5
February 65.9 70.5 70.9 68.0 71.4 8.3 5.0
March 70.5 70.8 70.8 69.7 71.7 1.7 4.4
April 70.6 71.0 70.3 68.9 72.8 3.2 5.7
May 70.7 71.3 70.5 69.1 72.7 2.9 5.3
June 70.6 71.7 70.8 69.4 73.1 3.5 5.3
July 70.7 72.4 71.3 69.4 73.5 3.9 5.9
August 70.8 71.6 71.1 70.5 74.2 4.8 5.3
September 70.7 71.3 70.6 70.3 74.5 5.3 6.0
October 71.3 71.2 70.4 70.9 95.4 33.8 34.6
November 71.9 72.3 70.5 71.1 96.2 33.7 35.3
December 71.3 71.6 70.6 71.6 96.3 35.1 34.4
Monthly Average 69.6 71.3 70.9 69.2 78.6 12.9 13.5

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

*** Employment numbers in 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers. The airline discontinued flights on Jan. 5, 2006.

****Virgin America and SkyBus began reporting employment data in August 2007

Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Table 12: Low-Cost Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees,* December 2003-2007**

(Ranked by December 2007 FTEs)

Excel | CSV

Rank   2003 2004*** 2005*** 2006 2007**** Percent Change
2003-2007 2006-2007
1 Southwest 32,847 31,012 31,729 32,664 34,378 4.7 5.2
2 US Airways N/A N/A N/A N/A 32,707 N/A N/A
3 JetBlue 5,129 6,678 8,448 9,509 10,145 97.8 6.7
4 AirTran 5,312 5,913 6,703 7,415 8,236 55.0 11.1
5 Frontier 3,365 4,056 4,093 4,522 5,216 55.0 15.3
6 ATA 6,949 5,947 3,658 2,454 2,319 -66.6 -5.5
7 Spirit 2,568 2,484 2,059 2,041 2,201 -14.3 7.8
8 Virgin America N/A N/A N/A N/A 735 N/A N/A
9 SkyBus N/A N/A N/A N/A 381 N/A N/A
10 Independence 4,093 4,158 2,375 N/A N/A N/A N/A
11 America West 11,012 11,392 11,579 13,038 N/A N/A N/A
  Total 71,274 71,637 70,643 71,642 96,315 35.1 34.4

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines prior to October 2007. Beginning with October 2007, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West Airlines’ numbers in the low-cost category.

***Employment numbers in 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers. The carrier did not meet the standard for filing in previous years. The airline discontinued flights on Jan. 5, 2006.

****Virgin America and SkyBus began reporting employment data in August 2007

N/A: Not applicable because carriers did not meet the standard for filing.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Table 13: Change in Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* from the Previous Year

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Excel | CSV

  2004** 2005*** 2006 2007****
January 16.3 15.5 2.5 3.0
February 17.3 14.3 1.1 5.9
March 21.6 13.7 0.5 5.6
April 21.7 12.6 0.6 5.6
May 23.3 11.1 -0.6 7.2
June 24.9 11.0 -1.6 5.1
July 33.0 6.0 -0.8 4.8
August 31.6 5.1 -1.0 4.9
September 32.4 4.3 -0.3 5.2
October 33.0 2.7 0.6 5.5
November 31.0 2.1 2.4 5.1
December 29.3 2.2 3.0 4.9

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Mesa, Pinnacle and PSA began reporting employment numbers in 2004.

*** Republic, Shuttle America and GoJet reported for part of 2005.

****Compass began reporting employment numbers in November 2007.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 14: Regional Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Excel | CSV

  2004** 2005*** 2006 2007**** Percent Change
2004-2007 2006-2007
January 48.3 55.8 57.2 58.9 22.0 3.0
February 48.9 55.9 56.6 59.9 22.4 5.9
March 49.6 56.4 56.7 59.9 20.7 5.6
April 50.3 56.6 56.9 60.1 19.6 5.6
May 51.2 56.9 56.5 60.6 18.3 7.2
June 51.9 57.6 57.0 59.9 15.3 5.1
July 54.3 57.6 57.1 59.9 10.2 4.8
August 55.0 57.8 57.2 60.2 9.5 5.2
September 55.2 57.6 57.4 60.7 9.9 5.6
October 55.8 57.4 57.7 61.2 9.7 6.1
November 55.6 56.8 58.1 61.1 9.9 5.1
December 55.3 56.3 58.2 61.1 10.5 4.9
Monthly Average 51.6 56.9 57.0 60.3 16.7 5.8

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Mesa, Pinnacle and PSA began reporting employment numbers in 2004.

*** Republic, Shuttle America and GoJet reported for part of 2005.

****Compass began reporting employment numbers in November 2007.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 15: Regional Carrier Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2003-2007

(Ranked by December 2007 FTEs)

Excel | CSV

Rank   2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Percent Change**
2003-2007 2006-2007
1 SkyWest 5,622 6,998 8,101 8,791 10,249 82.3 16.6
2 American Eagle 7,720 9,130 9,419 9,269 9,679 25.4 4.4
3 ExpressJet 5,683 6,344 6,375 6,828 7,753 36.4 13.5
4 Comair 5,745 6,098 6,329 6,126 6,349 10.5 3.6
5 Atlantic Southeast 5,469 5,718 5,552 5,657 4,295 -21.5 -24.1
6 Horizon 3,311 3,322 3,504 3,656 3,741 13.0 2.3
7 Pinnacle N/A 2,605 2,968 3,288 3,283 N/A -0.2
8 Mesa N/A 3,832 2,975 3,240 3,091 N/A -4.6
9 Mesaba 2,909 2,701 3,277 2,555 2,926 0.6 14.5
10 Air Wisconsin 3,024 3,653 2,198 2,314 2,179 -27.9 -5.8
11 Executive 1,846 1,785 1,750 1,682 1,720 -6.8 2.3
12 PSA N/A 1,692 1,570 1,432 1,361 N/A -5.0
13 Republic N/A N/A 246 670 1,324 N/A 97.6
14 Trans States 1,179 1,421 1,302 1,278 1,293 9.7 1.2
15 Shuttle America N/A N/A 711 1,104 1,119 N/A 1.4
16 Go Jet N/A N/A 237 312 363 N/A 16.3
17 Compass N/A N/A N/A N/A 355 N/A N/A
  Total 42,508 55,299 56,514 58,202 61,080 18.1 4.9

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers, or the total industry, are not appropriate for the years before 2003. The Percent Change 2003-2007 is based on the 10 carriers reporting in both years.

N/A: Not applicable because carriers did not meet the standard for filing.

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.
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