April 2017 Passenger Airline Employment Data

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BTS 31-17                                                                                                                                                   

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

BTS Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

david.smallen@dot.gov                                                                                                                            

BTS Statistics Release: April 2017 Passenger Airline Employment Data

 

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.9 percent more workers in April 2017 than in April 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. April was the highest monthly full-time equivalent (FTE) total (423,537) since July 2005 (428,091) and was the 42nd consecutive month that U.S. scheduled passenger airline FTEs exceeded the same month of the previous year (Tables 1, 2, 3).

 

Fig1 

 

Month-to-month, the number of FTEs rose 0.3 percent from March to April (Table 1A). Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. Historical employment data can be found on the BTS web site. 

 

The four network airlines reported 2.6 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than in April 2016 (Tables 7, 8, 9). Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines increased FTEs from April 2016. Month-to-month, the number of network airline FTEs rose 0.3 percent from March to April (Table 1A).

 

The network airlines employed 8.0 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than in April 2013 (Tables 8, 9). Network airlines operate a significant portion of their flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities.

 

The six low-cost carriers reported 8.5 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than in April 2016 (Tables 10, 11, 12). Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America increased FTEs from April 2016 (Table 12). Month-to-month, the number of low-cost airline FTEs rose 0.6 percent from March to April, rising for the 21st consecutive month (Table 1A). The six low-cost airlines employed 26.4 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than in April 2013 (Tables 11, 12). Low-cost airlines operate under a low-cost business model, with infrastructure and aircraft operating costs below the overall industry average.

 

The 11 regional carriers reported 2.1 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than in April 2016 (Tables 13, 14, 15). Nine regional airlines – Endeavor Air, PSA Airlines, Envoy Air, Mesa Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, Republic Airlines, Compass Airlines, GoJet Airlines and Horizon Air increased FTEs from April 2016. ExpressJet Airlines and Air Wisconsin reported decreases (Table 15). Month-to-month, the number of regional airline FTEs was virtually unchanged from March to April (Table 1A). The 11 regional carriers reporting in April 2017 employed 4.2 percent more FTEs in April 2017 than the 15 carriers reporting in April 2013 (Tables 14, 15). Regional carriers typically provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers’ hub and spoke systems.                            

 

Carrier Groups: The four network airlines employed 65.2 percent of the 423,537 FTEs employed by all scheduled passenger airlines in April, the six low-cost carriers employed 20.8 percent and the 11 regional carriers employed 12.1 percent (Table 4). In comparison, in April 2006, the network airlines employed 66.0 percent of the FTEs, the six low-cost carriers employed 17.2 percent and the regional carriers employed 14.6 percent (Table 5).

 

Top Employers by Group: American Airlines employed the most FTEs (100,113) in April among the network airlines, Southwest Airlines employed the most FTEs (54,836) among low-cost airlines, and Envoy employed the most FTEs (11,361) among regional airlines. The three airlines with the most FTEs in April – American, United and Delta– employed 62.3 percent of the month’s total passenger airline FTEs (Tables 3, 6).

 

Reporting Notes

 

Airlines that operate at least one aircraft that has more than 60 seats or the capacity to carry a payload of passengers, cargo and fuel weighing more than 18,000 pounds must report monthly employment statistics.

 

The “Other Carrier” category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets such as the Hawaiian Islands served by Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

                            

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of June 9. Additional airline employment data and previous press releases can be found on the BTS website.  BTS has scheduled release of May passenger airline employment data for July 20. 

 

 

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

Most recent 13 months - percent change from same month of the previous year

 

Network Airlines

Low-Cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

All Passenger Airlines **

Apr 2015 - Apr 2016

2.4

10.2

0.1

8.1

3.6

May 2015 - May 2016

2.3

10.7

0.2

9.3

3.7

Jun 2015 - Jun 2016

2.3

11.0

0.9

10.6

3.9

Jul 2015 - Jul 2016

2.4

11.3

3.3

11.2

4.3

Aug 2015 - Aug 2016

2.5

11.0

3.3

11.9

4.3

Sep 2015 - Sep 2016

2.6

10.6

2.9

13.0

4.3

Oct 2015 - Oct 2016

2.7

10.3

0.3

12.7

4.0

Nov 2015 - Nov 2016

2.3

9.8

0.2

13.5

3.7

Dec 2015 - Dec 2016

2.4

9.5

0.2

13.7

3.7

Jan 2016 - Jan 2017

2.3

9.7

1.9

12.7

3.9

Feb 2016 - Feb 2017

2.4

9.4

2.4

11.8

3.9

Mar 2016 - Mar 2017

2.7

9.1

2.0

11.7

4.0

Apr 2016 - Apr 2017

2.6

8.5

2.1

10.7

3.9

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other Carriers generally operate within specific niche markets. They are: Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Note: See Table 2 for all passenger airlines, Table 7 for Network, Table 10 for Low-Cost and Table 13 for Regional.

 

 

Table 1A: Monthly Change in Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Airline Group

   

Percent change in FTEs from the previous month

   

 

Network Airlines

Low-Cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

All Passenger Airlines **

   

Apr 2016 - May 2016

0.5

1.1

0.4

1.6

0.6

   

May 2016 - Jun 2016

0.3

0.9

0.5

0.8

0.5

   

Jun 2016 - Jul 2016

0.2

0.8

0.4

1.0

0.3

   

Jul 2016 - Aug 2016

0.1

0.4

-0.1

0.9

0.1

   

Aug 2016 - Sep 2016

0.0

0.5

-0.5

1.5

0.1

   

Sep 2016 - Oct 2016

0.2

0.9

-0.1

0.8

0.3

   

Oct 2016 - Nov 2016

-0.2

0.5

0.0

1.5

0.0

   

Nov 2016 - Dec 2016

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.5

0.1

   

Dec 2016 - Jan 2017

-0.1

1.0

1.6

0.5

0.4

   

Jan 2017 - Feb 2017

0.4

0.9

0.4

0.6

0.5

   

Feb 2017 - Mar 2017

0.8

0.6

-0.3

0.6

0.6

   

Mar 2017 - Apr 2017

0.3

0.6

0.0

-0.1

0.3

   

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

   

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

   

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other Carriers generally operate within specific niche markets. They are: Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

   

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

   

Note: See Table 2 for all passenger airlines, Table 7 for Network, Table 10 for Low-Cost and Table 13 for Regional.

   

 

 

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

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

January

0.5

1.2

4.1

3.9

February

0.4

1.8

3.8

3.9

March

0.8

1.9

3.9

4.0

April

1.0

2.4

3.6

3.9

May

1.1

2.6

3.7

 

June

0.9

3.0

3.9

 

July

1.3

2.7

4.3

 

August

1.0

3.3

4.3

 

September

1.1

3.3

4.3

 

October

0.9

4.0

4.0

 

November

1.5

3.7

3.7

 

December

1.4

3.9

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: Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2013 - 2017

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

Month

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

January

380.0

381.8

386.5

402.2

417.8

9.9

3.9

February

380.4

382.0

389.0

403.9

419.8

10.3

3.9

March

380.5

383.6

390.8

406.0

422.3

11.0

4.0

April

380.5

384.3

393.4

407.8

423.5

11.3

3.9

May

381.4

385.6

395.6

410.3

     

June

381.7

385.2

397.0

412.3

     

July

381.3

386.2

396.5

413.7

     

August

380.5

384.5

397.0

414.2

     

September

380.2

384.5

397.3

414.6

     

October

381.2

384.7

399.9

416.0

     

November

381.2

386.9

401.3

416.0

     

December

380.8

386.2

401.4

416.3

     

Jan - Apr Average

380.4

382.9

389.9

405.0

420.9

10.6

3.9

12-Month Average

380.8

384.5

395.1

410.6

 

 

 

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 4: Airline Group Full-time Equivalent Employees*, April 2013 - 2017

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

 

Network Airlines

Low-Cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

All Passenger Airlines**

2013

255.7

69.7

49.4

5.7

380.5

2014

256.7

70.8

50.5

6.3

384.3

2015

262.9

73.7

50.3

6.5

393.4

2016

269.2

81.2

50.4

7.0

407.8

2017

276.2

88.1

51.4

7.8

423.5

Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2017

65.2%

20.8%

12.1%

1.8%

100%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

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

 

 

Table 5: Carrier Group Percent of Total Scheduled Passenger Airline FTEs

(April of each year)

     

Year

Network Airlines

Low-Cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

2006

66.0

17.2

14.6

2.1

2012

67.3

18.0

13.4

1.3

2016

66.0

19.9

12.4

1.7

2017

65.2

20.8

12.1

1.8

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

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

 

  

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, April 2017

Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*

Rank

Airline

Total FTE Employees

Carrier Group**

Top 10 Airlines April 2016

1

American

100,113

Network

American

2

United

82,854

Network

United

3

Delta

81,082

Network

Delta

4

Southwest

54,836

Low-Cost

Southwest

5

JetBlue

17,224

Low-Cost

JetBlue

6

Alaska

12,176

Network

Alaska

7

Envoy

11,361

Regional

Envoy

8

SkyWest

11,081

Regional

SkyWest

9

Spirit

5,849

Low-Cost

ExpressJet

10

ExpressJet

5,814

Regional

Hawaiian

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

** See Table 9 for Network, Table 12 for Low-Cost and Table 15 for Regional.

 

 

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

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

 

2014

2015

2016

2017

January

0.4

0.8

3.3

2.3

February

0.1

1.4

3.2

2.4

March

0.6

1.7

2.9

2.7

April

0.4

2.4

2.4

2.6

May

0.5

2.7

2.3

 

June

0.3

3.1

2.3

 

July

0.4

3.1

2.4

 

August

0.1

3.7

2.5

 

September

0.4

3.6

2.6

 

October

0.3

3.6

2.7

 

November

0.4

3.7

2.3

 

December

0.8

3.5

2.4

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

 

 

Table 8: Network Airlines Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2013 - 2017

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

January

254.4

255.5

257.6

266.2

272.4

7.1

2.3

February

255.0

255.2

258.8

267.0

273.4

7.2

2.4

March

254.9

256.3

260.8

268.4

275.5

8.1

2.7

April

255.7

256.7

262.9

269.2

276.2

8.0

2.6

May

256.3

257.6

264.4

270.6

     

June

256.8

257.5

265.5

271.5

     

July

256.5

257.5

265.6

272.0

     

August

255.8

256.1

265.6

272.1

     

September

255.2

256.1

265.3

272.1

     

October

255.7

256.4

265.7

272.8

     

November

255.9

256.8

266.3

272.3

     

December

255.2

257.3

266.1

272.6

     

Jan - Apr Average

255.0

255.9

260.0

267.7

274.4

7.6

2.5

12-Month Average

255.6

256.6

263.7

270.6

 

 

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* 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 9: Network Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, April 2013 - 2017

(FTEs for April of each year. Ranked by April 2017 FTEs)

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

AA/US Combined

89.9

31.7

33.0

98.0

100.1

11.3

2.2

 

American

59.0

59.9

62.8

98.0

100.1

69.5

2.2

 

US Airways

30.9

31.7

33.0

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

2

United

82.4

80.4

78.8

80.4

82.9

N/A

3.1

3

Delta

73.9

75.0

77.8

79.8

81.1

9.8

1.6

4

Alaska

9.4

9.8

10.6

11.0

12.2

29.0

10.2

 

Total

255.7

256.7

262.9

269.2

276.2

8.0

2.6

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

** American Airlines and US Airways merged and began reporting combined numbers in July 2015.

 

 

Table 10: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, April 2013 - 2017

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

 

2014

2015

2016

2017

January

0.3

4.6

7.9

9.7

February

0.7

4.6

8.5

9.4

March

0.8

3.9

9.6

9.1

April

1.5

4.2

10.2

8.5

May

1.8

4.3

10.7

 

June

2.2

4.9

11.0

 

July

2.5

5.2

11.3

 

August

3.0

5.8

11.0

 

September

2.9

6.6

10.6

 

October

3.8

6.9

10.3

 

November

5.2

6.5

9.8

 

December

4.4

7.8

9.5

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* 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 11: Low-Cost Airlines Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2013 - 2017

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

January

69.5

69.7

72.9

78.6

86.3

24.2

9.7

February

69.6

70.1

73.4

79.6

87.0

25.0

9.4

March

69.9

70.4

73.2

80.2

87.5

25.3

9.1

April

69.7

70.8

73.7

81.2

88.1

26.4

8.5

May

69.8

71.1

74.2

82.1

     

June

69.6

71.1

74.6

82.8

     

July

69.5

71.3

75.0

83.5

     

August

69.3

71.4

75.5

83.8

     

September

69.4

71.4

76.2

84.3

     

October

69.5

72.1

77.1

85.0

     

November

69.4

73.0

77.8

85.4

     

December

69.4

72.4

78.0

85.4

     

Jan - Apr Average

69.7

70.2

73.3

79.9

87.2

25.2

9.2

12-Month Average

69.5

71.2

75.1

82.7

     

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

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

 

 

Table 12: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, April 2013 - 2017

(FTEs for April of each year. Ranked by April 2017 FTEs)

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

Southwest

45,590

45,217

47,179

51,443

54,836

20.3

6.6

2

JetBlue

12,872

13,638

14,347

15,629

17,224

33.8

10.2

3

Spirit

3,159

3,652

4,214

5,049

5,849

85.2

15.8

4

Frontier

3,737

3,628

2,911

3,070

3,590

-3.9

16.9

5

Allegiant

1,899

2,089

2,442

3,096

3,531

85.9

14.1

6

Virgin America

2,420

2,527

2,602

2,893

3,049

26.0

5.4

 

Total

69,677

70,751

73,695

81,180

88,079

26.4

8.5

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

January

-0.4

-1.9

2.0

1.9

February

0.5

-0.3

0.2

2.4

March

0.9

-0.5

0.1

2.0

April

2.3

-0.4

0.1

2.1

May

2.4

-0.3

0.2

 

June

1.9

0.1

0.9

 

July

3.5

-3.3

3.3

 

August

2.5

-2.7

3.3

 

September

2.1

-2.7

2.9

 

October

-0.2

1.4

0.3

 

November

1.5

-0.2

0.2

 

December

-0.2

0.9

0.2

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* 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 14: Regional Airlines Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2013 - 2017

FTE numbers in thousands (000’s)

 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

January

50.6

50.4

49.5

50.5

51.4

1.6

1.9

February

50.2

50.5

50.3

50.4

51.6

2.8

2.4

March

50.2

50.6

50.4

50.4

51.4

2.5

2.0

April

49.4

50.5

50.3

50.4

51.4

4.2

2.1

May

49.4

50.6

50.5

50.6

     

June

49.4

50.3

50.4

50.8

     

July

49.4

51.1

49.4

51.0

     

August

49.4

50.7

49.3

51.0

     

September

49.5

50.6

49.2

50.7

     

October

49.9

49.8

50.5

50.6

     

November

49.9

50.6

50.5

50.6

     

December

50.2

50.1

50.5

50.6

     

Jan - Apr Average

50.1

50.5

50.1

50.4

51.5

2.8

2.1

12-Month Average

49.8

50.5

50.1

50.6

 

   

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* 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 15: Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, April 2013 - 2017

(FTEs for April of each year. Ranked by April 2017 FTEs)

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

Envoy

11,164

10,862

10,937

10,665

11,361

1.8

6.5

2

SkyWest

9,391

9,764

9,809

10,496

11,081

18.0

5.6

3

ExpressJet

8,873

9,333

8,173

6,959

5,814

-34.5

-16.5

4

YX/S5/RP Combined#

5,515

5,824

5,934

5,218

5,449

-1.2

4.4

 

Republic

2,295

2,821

3,170

3,326

5,449

137.4

63.8

 

Shuttle

2,012

2,039

2,764

1,892

N/A

N/A

N/A

 

Chautauqua

1,208

964

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

5

Endeavor

4,394

3,822

3,270

3,432

3,882

-11.7

13.1

6

Horizon

2,672

2,788

3,108

3,254

3,300

23.5

1.4

7

Mesa

1,611

1,906

2,424

2,923

3,112

93.2

6.5

8

PSA

1,063

1,338

2,141

2,573

2,904

173.2

12.9

9

Compass

1,091

1,223

1,495

1,767

1,844

69.0

4.4

10

GoJet

1,093

1,111

1,134

1,306

1,353

23.8

3.6

11

Air Wisconsin

2,520

2,555

1,901

1,781

1,338

-46.9

-24.9

 

Total

49,387

50,526

50,326

50,374

51,438

4.2

2.1

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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

 # Effective the end of December 2016, Republic and Shuttle America combined operations and Shuttle America ceased operating. Effective the end of December 2014, Shuttle America and Chautauqua Airlines combined operations and Chautauqua ceased operating.

 

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.