June 2009 Employment Down 6.3 Percent From A Year Ago

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 6.3 percent fewer workers in June 2009 than in June 2008, the 12th consecutive decrease 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 Tuesday.  FTE calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.
 
All the network airlines decreased employment from June 2008 to June 2009 as did low-cost carriers AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines. Regional carriers American Eagle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Comair, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, Horizon Air, Mesa Airlines, Air Wisconsin, Colgan Air and PSA Airlines also reported reduced employment levels compared to last year. 

Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. The seven network carriers employed 260,808 FTEs in June, 67.2 percent of the passenger airline total, while low-cost carriers employed 16.5 percent and regional carriers employed 14.6 percent. 

American Airlines employed the most FTEs in June among the network carriers, Southwest Airlines employed the most FTEs among low-cost carriers, and American Eagle employed the most FTEs among regional carriers. Seven of the top 10 employers in the industry are network carriers.

America West Airlines and US Airways now operate under a single certificate.  Joint reporting began with October 2007 data.  Before October 2007, US Airways’ employment numbers were included with the network airlines, while America West's numbers were included with the low-cost airlines.  Beginning with October 2007 data, US Airways’ numbers are combined with America West’s numbers in the network airlines category. 

FMI: www.bts.gov