BTS Releases January Passenger Airline Employment Data;
January 2008 Employment Up 3.4 Percent from January 2007 

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.4 percent more workers in January 2008 than in January 2007, the 12th 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 January 2007 to January 2008 (Table 9). All of the low-cost carriers except ATA Airlines (Table 12), and regional carriers American Eagle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Horizon Air, Pinnacle Airlines, 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 six network carriers employed 249,027 FTEs in January, 59.6 percent of the passenger airline total, while low-cost carriers employed 22.8 percent and regional carriers employed 14.6 percent (Table 4).   

American Airlines employed the most FTEs in January 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 now operate under a single certificate.  Joint  reporting began with October 2007 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 32,674 FTEs for January 2008.  In January 2007, US Airways reported 19,528 FTEs in the network category and America West reported 12,435 FTEs in the low-cost category for a total of 31,963.   

Network Airlines 

FTEs at the six remaining network carriers, not including US Airways in previous years, increased 2.7 percent in January 2008 compared to January 2007, the ninth 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 January 2007 to January 2008.  The year-to-year increases were Delta Air Lines 7.9 percent, Alaska Airlines 5.6 percent, Continental Airlines 3.8 percent, United Airlines 0.9 percent, American 0.8 percent, and Northwest Airlines 0.4 percent (Table 9).   

FTEs at five network carriers declined during the four years from January 2004 to January 2008. The exception was Continental with a 5.4 percent increase (Table 8).  The biggest percentage decline was at Northwest, down 23.4 percent, a reduction of 8,920 FTEs, followed by Delta at 17.7 percent.  The other FTE decreases during that time were United, down 10.4 percent; American, down 7.5 percent; and Alaska, down 0.3 percent (Table 9). 

Low-Cost Airlines 

Low-cost carrier FTEs in January 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 January. 

All the low-cost carriers had FTE increases from January 2007 to January 2008 except ATA, down 7.7 percent.  Frontier Airlines reported an increase of 16.0 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 431 FTEs in January and Virgin America failed to report its employment data (Table 12).

Regional Airlines 

Regional carrier FTEs were up 3.7 percent in January 2008 compared to January 2007 (Table 13).  

Republic and Mesaba reported the largest increases in the group.  Republic employed 97.2 percent more FTEs in January 2008 than January 2007, while Mesaba employed 19.4 percent more (Table 15). 

Regional carrier FTEs rose from 55,797 in January 2005 to 61,104 in January 2008, an increase of 9.5 percent (Table 14).    

The 12 regional carriers reporting employment data in both 2004 and 2008 employed 17.4 percent more FTEs in January 2008 than in January 2004.  Of that group, Pinnacle reported the biggest gain, 81.8 percent, followed by SkyWest at 79.5 percent and ExpressJet at 31.6 percent. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Air Wisconsin Airlines, Mesa Airlines and Executive Airlines reported fewer FTEs in January 2008 than January 2004 (Table 15).  

Regional carrier Compass Airlines began reporting employment data in November. Compass reported 384 FTEs in January (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 March 13. 

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 February airline employment data for April 15.  

 

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

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
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
Jan. 2007-Jan. 2008	-5.0	34.8	3.7	3.4

 

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 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

Month	2005	2006	2007	2008
January	-0.8	-6.0	-0.4	3.4
February	-1.4	-5.8	0.4
March	-1.9	-5.4	0.7
April	-3.1	-4.6	1.4
May	-3.5	-5.0	2.2
June	-3.8	-4.8	2.5
July	-3.5	-5.9	2.8
August	-5.8	-3.1	2.6
September	-5.8	-2.6	3.0
October	-6.0	-2.2	3.5
November	-6.5	-1.6	3.7
December	-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)

Month	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Percent Change
						2004-2008	2007-2008
January	435.0	431.5	405.7	404.3	418.1	-3.9%	3.4%
February	435.0	428.9	404.5	406.0
March	435.9	427.7	405.1	408.0
April	437.8	424.1	404.5	410.2
May	439.6	424.4	403.6	412.4
June	440.9	424.3	403.8	414.0
July	444.1	428.5	403.3	414.6
August	443.0	417.5	404.7	415.4
September	440.0	414.5	403.7	416.3
October	439.1	412.7	403.6	417.9
November	439.5	411.0	404.5	419.4
December	434.0	408.8	405.0	419.8

 

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, January 2004-2008

FTE Numbers in thousands (000’s)

	Network**	Low-Cost	Regional	All Passenger Airlines***
2004	305.1	71.2	48.3	435.0
2005	292.7	71.6	55.8	431.5
2006	269.1	67.8	57.2	405.7
2007	262.0	70.8	58.9	404.3
2008	249.0	95.5	61.1	418.1
Pct. Change 2004-2008****	-18.4%	34.0%	9.5%	-3.1%
Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2008	59.6%	22.8%	14.6%

 

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.

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

**** Percent change comparison for regional airlines and for all passenger airlines is for 2005 to 2008  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, January 2004-2008

Percent Change from the previous year

	Network**	Low-Cost	Regional***	All Passenger Airlines****
2004	-12.5	8.4	N/A	N/A
2005	-4.1	0.5	15.5	-0.8
2006	-8.1	-5.3	2.5	-6.0
2007	-2.6	4.5	3.0	-0.4
2008	-5.0	34.8	3.7	3.4

 

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.

*** Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2004, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers, or the total industry, are not appropriate for the years before 2004. 

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

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, January 2008

Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*

Rank	Airline*	Total FTE Employees (000)	Carrier Group		Top 10 Airlines January 2007
1	American	73.3	Network		American
2	United	52.5	Network		United
3	Delta	48.0	Network		Delta
4	Continental	36.1	Network		Continental
5	Southwest	34.2	Low Cost		Southwest
6	US Airways	32.7	Low Cost		Northwest
7	Northwest	29.3	Network		US Airways
8	JetBlue	10.4	Low Cost		America West
9	Sky West	10.3	Regional		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

Month	2005	2006	2007	2008
January	-4.1	-8.1	-2.6	-5.0
February	-4.6	-7.8	-2.2
March	-5.0	-7.4	-1.4
April	-6.5	-6.7	-0.7
May	-6.6	-7.0	0.3
June	-7.0	-6.8	1.3
July	-5.9	-8.1	1.5
August	-9.0	-4.7	1.5
September	-8.9	-4.1	1.8
October	-8.9	-4.0	-5.3
November	-9.3	-3.4	-5.0
December	-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)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Percent Change
						2004-2008	2007-2008
January	305.1	292.7	269.1	262.0	249.0	-18.4	-5.0
February	304.7	290.9	268.2	262.4
March	304.6	289.3	267.8	264.1
April	305.6	285.8	266.6	264.8
May	306.0	285.8	265.8	266.6
June	306.1	284.8	265.3	268.6
July	306.3	288.2	264.9	268.7
August	305.3	277.8	264.8	268.8
September	302.4	275.4	264.0	268.8
October	300.9	274.1	263.0	249.0
November	300.2	272.4	263.0	249.9
December	295.7	270.6	262.9	250.0
12-Month Average	305.1	285.6	266.3	262.0

 

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*, January 2004-2008**

(Ranked by January 2008 FTEs)

Numbers in thousands (000’s)

Rank		2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Percent Change
							2004-2008	2007-2008
1	American	79.2	76.7	74.7	72.7	73.3	-7.5	0.8
2	United	58.6	56.9	53.4	52.0	52.5	-10.4	0.9
3	Delta	58.4	56.6	47.9	44.5	48.0	-17.7	7.9
4	Continental	34.3	31.9	33.1	34.8	36.1	5.4	3.8
5	Northwest	38.2	38.4	31.0	29.1	29.3	-23.4	0.4
6	Alaska	9.9	9.2	9.0	9.3	9.9	-0.3	5.6
7	US Airways	26.5	24.1	19.9	19.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Total	305.1	293.7	269.1	262.0	249.0	-18.4	-5.0

 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

Month	2005	2006	2007	2008
January	0.5	-5.3	4.5	34.8
February	0.6	-4.1	5.0
March	0.0	-3.0	4.4
April	-0.7	-2.2	5.7
May	-1.0	-2.1	5.3
June	-1.2	-2.0	5.3
July	-1.5	-2.6	5.9
August	-0.7	-0.8	5.3
September	-1.0	-0.4	6.0
October	-1.2	0.8	34.6
November	-2.5	0.9	35.3
December	-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)

	2004***	2005***	2006	2007****	2008	Percent Change
						2004-2008	2007-2008
January	71.2	71.6	67.8	70.8	95.5	34.0	34.8
February	70.5	70.9	68.0	71.4
March	70.8	70.8	69.7	71.7
April	71.0	70.3	68.9	72.8
May	71.3	70.5	69.1	72.7
June	71.7	70.8	69.4	73.1
July	72.4	71.3	69.4	73.5
August	71.6	71.1	70.5	74.2
September	71.3	70.6	70.3	74.5
October	71.2	70.4	70.9	95.4
November	72.3	70.5	71.1	96.2
December	71.6	70.6	71.6	96.3
12-Month Average	71.3	70.9	69.2	78.6

 

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.

*** 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,* January 2004-2008**

(Ranked by January 2008 FTEs)

Rank		2004***	2005***	2006	2007****	2008	Percent Change
							2004-2008	2007-2008
1	Southwest	32,484	31,011	31,430	32,490	34,186	5.2	5.2
2	US Airways	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32,674	N/A	N/A
3	JetBlue	5,248	6,849	8,812	9,538	10,398	98.1	9.0
4	AirTran	5,458	5,866	6,684	7,359	8,058	47.6	9.5
5	Frontier	3,468	4,091	4,179	4,545	5,274	52.1	16.0
6	ATA	6,949	5,810	3,199	2,418	2,233	-67.9	-7.7
7	Spirit	2,405	2,475	2,055	2,065	2,224	-7.5	7.7
8	SkyBus	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	431	N/A	N/A
9	Virgin America*****	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
10	Independence	3,935	4,019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
11	America West	11,297	11,480	11,435	12,435	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Total	71,244	71,601	67,794	70,850	95,478	34.0	34.8

 

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

***** Virgin America failed to file January 2008 employment numbers

N/A: Carriers did not meet the standard for filing, was no longer operating, merged with another operating carrier or failed to file.  See previous notes.

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

	2005**	2006	2007***	2008
January	15.5	2.5	3.0	3.7
February	14.3	1.1	5.9
March	13.7	0.5	5.6
April	12.6	0.6	5.6
May	11.1	-0.6	7.2
June	11.0	-1.6	5.1
July	6.0	-0.8	4.8
August	5.1	-1.0	4.9
September	4.3	-0.3	5.2
October	2.7	0.6	5.5
November	2.1	2.4	5.1
December	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.

** 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)

	2004**	2005***	2006	2007****	2008	Percent Change
						2005-2008	2007-2008
January	48.3	55.8	57.2	58.9	61.1	9.5	3.7
February	48.9	55.9	56.6	59.9
March	49.6	56.4	56.7	59.9
April	50.3	56.6	56.9	60.1
May	51.2	56.9	56.5	60.6
June	51.9	57.6	57.0	59.9
July	54.3	57.6	57.1	59.9
August	55.0	57.8	57.2	60.2
September	55.2	57.6	57.4	60.7
October	55.8	57.4	57.7	61.2
November	55.6	56.8	58.1	61.1
December	55.3	56.3	58.2	61.1
12-Month Average	51.6	56.9	57.0	60.3

 

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.