BTS Statistics Release: July 2017 Passenger Airline Employment Data

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BTS 46-17

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

BTS Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568                                                                             

david.smallen@dot.gov                                                                                                                          

BTS Statistics Release: July 2017 Passenger Airline Employment Data

 

See Site and System Status

 

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.5 percent more workers in July 2017 than in July 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. July was the highest monthly full-time equivalent (FTE) employment total (428,209) since January 2005 (430,780) and was the 45th consecutive month that U.S. scheduled passenger airlines' FTEs exceeded the same month of the previous year (Tables 1, 2, 3). 

 Fig1

 

 

Month-to-month, the number of FTEs rose 0.1 percent from June to July (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 2.3 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than in July 2016 (Tables 7, 8, 9). Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines increased FTEs from July 2016. Month-to-month, the number of network airline FTEs showed no change from June to July (Table 1A).

 

The network airlines employed 8.5 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than in July 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 7.3 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than in July 2016 (Tables 10, 11, 12). Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Allegiant Airlines, Virgin America and Southwest Airlines increased FTEs from July 2016 (Table 12). Month-to-month, the number of low-cost airline FTEs rose 0.2 percent from June to July (Table 1A). The six low-cost airlines employed 28.9 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than in July 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 2.7 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than in July 2016 (Tables 13, 14, 15). Eight regional airlines – PSA Airlines, Envoy Air, Endeavor Air, SkyWest Airlines, Republic Airlines, Horizon Air, GoJet and Mesa Airlines increased FTEs from July 2016. Air Wisconsin, ExpressJet Airlines and Compass Airlines reported a decrease (Table 15). Month-to-month, the number of regional airline FTEs rose 0.5 percent from June to July (Table 1A). The 11 regional carriers reporting in July 2017 employed 6.1 percent more FTEs in July 2017 than the 15 carriers reporting in July 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 65.0 percent of the 428,209 FTEs employed by all scheduled passenger airlines in July, the six low-cost carriers employed 20.9 percent and the 11 regional carriers employed 12.2 percent (Table 4). In comparison, in July 2006, network airlines employed 65.7 percent of the FTEs, six low-cost carriers employed 17.4 percent and regional carriers employed 14.7 percent (Table 5).

 

Top Employers by Group: American employed the most FTEs (100,816) in July among the network airlines, Southwest employed the most FTEs (55,356) among low-cost airlines, and Envoy employed the most FTEs (11,759) among regional airlines. The three airlines with the most FTEs in July – American, United and Delta– employed 62.1 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 Sept. 12, Additional airline employment data and previous press releases can be found on the BTS website.  BTS has scheduled release of August 2017 passenger airline employment data for Oct. 19.

 

 

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 **

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

8.8

2.1

10.7

3.9

May 2016 - May 2017

2.4

8.3

2.5

9.8

3.7

Jun 2016 - Jun 2017

2.5

8.0

2.6

9.4

3.8

Jul 2016 - Jul 2017

2.3

7.3

2.7

8.5

3.5

 

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.                                                                         

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 **

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

0.9

0.0

-0.1

0.3

Apr 2017 - May 2017

0.3

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.5

May 2017 - Jun 2017

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.4

0.5

Jun 2017 - Jul 2017

0.0

0.2

0.5

0.1

0.1

 

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.                                                                         

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

 

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

3.7

June

0.9

3.0

3.9

3.8

July

1.3

2.7

4.3

3.5

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 Passengers Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* Month 2013-2017

           

Percent Change

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

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

423.7

      11.4

3.9

May

381.4

385.6

395.6

410.3

425.7

      11.6

3.7

June

381.7

385.2

397.0

412.3

427.8

      12.1

3.8

July

381.3

386.2

396.5

413.7

428.2

      12.3

3.5

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 - Jul Average

380.8

384.1

392.7

408.0

423.6

11.2

3.8

12-Month Average

380.8

384.6

395.5

411.1

 

 

 

                  

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*, July 2013-2017

 

Network Airlines

Low-Cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

All Passenger Airlines**

2013

      256.5

69.5

49.4

5.9

      381.3

2014

      257.5

71.3

51.1

6.3

      386.2

2015

      265.6

75.0

49.4

6.6

      396.5

2016

      272.0

83.5

51.0

7.3

      413.7

2017

    278.3

89.6

52.4

7.9

    428.2

Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2017

65.0

20.9

12.2

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

(July of each year)

 

Network Airlines

Low-cost Airlines

Regional Airlines

Other Airlines

2006

65.7

17.4

14.7

2.1

2012

67.2

18.0

13.6

1.3

2016

65.7

20.2

12.3

1.8

2017

65.0

20.9

12.2

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, July 2017

Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*   

Rank

Airline

Total FTE Employees

Carrier Group**

Top 10 Airlines July 2016

1

American

    100,816

Network

American

2

United

      82,959

Network

United

3

Delta

      81,949

Network

Delta

4

Southwest

      55,356

Low-cost

Southwest

5

JetBlue

      17,639

Low-cost

JetBlue

6

Alaska

      12,601

Network

Alaska

7

Envoy Air

      11,759

Regional

SkyWest

8

SkyWest

      11,624

Regional

Envoy Air

9

Spirit Air Lines

       6,217

Low-cost

ExpressJet

10

Hawaiian

       5,738

Other

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

2.4

June

0.3

3.1

2.3

2.5

July

0.4

3.1

2.4

2.3

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

 

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

277.1

8.1

2.4

June

256.8

257.5

265.5

271.5

278.4

8.4

2.5

July

256.5

257.5

265.6

272.0

278.3

8.5

2.3

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 - Jul Average

255.6

256.6

262.2

269.3

275.9

7.9

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*, July 2013 – 2017

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

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

American (+ US)

90.2

91.7

96.8

98.8

100.8

11.8

2.0

 

American

59.1

60.0

96.8

98.8

100.8

70.7

2.0

 

US Airways

31.1

31.7

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

2

United

82.5

79.8

78.7

81.6

83.0

0.6

1.6

3

Delta

74.2

76.1

79.1

80.3

81.9

10.4

2.1

4

Alaska

9.6

10.0

10.9

11.3

12.6

31.7

12.0

 

Total

256.5

257.5

265.6

272.0

278.3

8.5

2.3

 

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 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

0.3

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

8.8

May

1.8

4.3

10.7

8.3

June

2.2

4.9

11.0

8.0

July

2.5

5.2

11.3

7.3

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

 

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

88.3

26.7

8.8

May

69.8

71.1

74.2

82.1

88.9

27.3

8.3

June

69.6

71.1

74.6

82.8

89.4

28.5

8.0

July

69.5

71.3

75.0

83.5

89.6

28.9

7.3

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 - Jul Average

69.6

70.6

73.8

81.1

88.1

26.5

8.6

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*, July 2013 - 2017

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

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

Southwest

45,128

45,523

47,875

52,545

55,356

22.7

5.3

2

JetBlue

12,998

13,513

14,804

16,129

17,639

35.7

9.4

3

Spirit

3,337

3,743

4,311

5,295

6,217

86.3

17.4

4

Allegiant

2,025

2,227

2,561

3,423

3,657

80.6

6.8

5

Frontier

3,612

3,748

2,787

3,147

3,576

-1.0

13.6

6

Virgin America

2,410

2,518

2,661

2,942

3,131

29.9

6.4

 

Total

69,510

71,272

74,999

83,481

89,576

28.9

7.3

 

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                                             

 

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

2.5

June

1.9

0.1

0.9

2.6

July

3.5

-3.3

3.3

2.7

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

 

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

51.8

4.8

2.5

June

49.4

50.3

50.4

50.8

52.1

5.5

2.6

July

49.4

51.1

49.4

51.0

52.4

6.1

2.7

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 - Jul Average

49.8

50.6

50.1

50.6

51.8

3.9

2.3

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*, July 2013 - 2017                                 

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

                                                                                                                               

Rank

Airline

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change

2013 - 2017

2016 - 2017

1

Envoy

  11,124

   10,996

     9,692

     10,798

   11,759

5.7

8.9

2

SkyWest

    9,410

     9,881

   10,042

     10,828

   11,624

23.5

7.4

3

ExpressJet

    9,020

     9,267

     7,827

       6,703

     5,440

-39.7

-18.8

4

YX/S5/RP Combined#

    5,661

     5,853

     5,914

       5,260

     5,564

-1.7

5.8

 

Republic

    2,413

     2,942

     3,149

       3,542

     5,564

130.6

57.1

 

Shuttle America

    2,065

     2,056

     2,765

       1,718

N/A

N/A

N/A

 

Chautauqua

    1,183

       855

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

5

Endeavor

    4,094

     3,785

     3,247

       3,631

     3,946

-3.6

8.7

6

Horizon

    2,660

     2,846

     3,112

       3,309

     3,442

29.4

4.0

7

Mesa

    1,718

     2,115

     2,600

       3,006

     3,084

79.5

2.6

8

PSA

    1,062

     1,501

     2,281

       2,620

     3,057

187.9

16.7

9

Compass

    1,090

     1,250

     1,616

       1,881

     1,774

62.8

-5.7

10

GoJet

    1,076

     1,103

     1,195

       1,327

     1,378

28.1

3.8

11

Air Wisconsin

    2,472

     2,510

     1,877

       1,658

     1,340

-45.8

-19.2

 

Total

49,387

51,107

49,403

  51,021

52,408

6.1

2.7

 

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.