BTS Statistics Release: January 2018 Passenger Airline Employment Data

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.2 percent more workers in January 2018 than in January 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. January was the highest monthly full-time equivalent (FTE) employment total (431,308 FTEs) since December 2004 (436,909 FTE) and was the 51st 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 0.2 percent from December to January (Table 1A). The scheduled passenger airlines employed 13.0 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2014, an increase of 49,489 FTEs (Table 3). 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 that collectively employ 65.2 percent of the scheduled passenger airline FTEs reported 3.2 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2017, an increase of 8,731 FTEs (Tables 7, 8, 9). Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines increased FTEs from January 2017. Month-to-month, the number of network airline FTEs rose 1.1 percent from December to January (Table 1A).

The network airlines employed 10.0 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2014, an increase of 25,620 FTEs (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 2.6 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2017, an increase of 2,215 FTEs (Tables 10, 11, 12). Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines increased FTEs from January 2017 (Tables 12).

Month-to-month, the number of low-cost airline FTEs fell 2.7 percent from December to January (Table 1A). The six low-cost airlines employed 27.0 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2014, an increase of 18,809 FTEs (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 4.6 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than in January 2017, an increase of 2,388 FTEs (Tables 13, 14, 15). Seven regional airlines – PSA Airlines, Envoy Air, SkyWest Airlines, Endeavor Air, Horizon Air, Mesa Airlines and Air Wisconsin increased FTEs from January 2017. ExpressJet Airlines, Compass Airlines, GoJet Airlines and Republic Airlines reported a decrease (Table 15). Month-to-month, the number of regional airline FTEs rose 0.3 percent from December to January (Table 1A). The 11 regional carriers reporting in January 2018 employed 6.7 percent more FTEs in January 2018 than the 15 carriers reporting in January 2014, an increase of 3,393 FTEs (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 431,308 FTEs employed by all scheduled passenger airlines in January, the six low-cost carriers employed 20.5 percent and the 11 regional carriers employed 12.5 percent (Table 4). In comparison, in January 2007, network airlines employed 64.9 percent, six low-cost carriers employed 17.8 percent and regional carriers employed 15.2 (Table5).

Top Employers by Group: American employed the most FTEs (100,832) in January among the network airlines, Southwest employed the most FTEs (56,527) among low-cost airlines, and Envoy employed the most FTEs (12,525) among regional airlines. The three airlines with the most FTEs in January – American, United and Delta – employed 61.4 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.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of March 5. Additional airline employment data and previous press releases can be found on the BTS website. BTS has scheduled release of February passenger airline employment data for April 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 **
Jan 2016 - Jan 2017	2.3	9.7	1.8	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
Aug 2016 - Aug 2017	2.2	7.0	3.3	8.4	3.4
Sep 2016 - Sep 2017	2.1	6.8	4.3	6.7	3.4
Oct 2016 - Oct 2017	2.1	6.7	5.2	1.8	3.4
Nov 2016 - Nov 2017	2.0	6.5	5.4	0.9	3.3
Dec 2016 - Dec 2017	2.0	6.5	6.0	1.5	3.4
Jan 2017 - Jan 2018	3.2	2.6	4.6	1.8	3.2
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 and Sun Country Airlines.
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 **
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
Jul 2017 - Aug 2017	-0.1	0.2	0.4	0.8	0.1
Aug 2017 - Sep 2017	-0.1	0.4	0.5	-0.1	0.1
Sep 2017 - Oct 2017	0.3	0.8	0.7	-3.8	0.4
Oct 2017 - Nov 2017	-0.2	0.3	0.2	0.5	-0.1
Nov 2017 - Dec 2017	0.1	0.0	0.5	1.1	0.2
Dec 2017 - Jan 2018	1.1	-2.7	0.3	0.8	0.2
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 and Sun Country Airlines.
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	2015	2016	2017	2018
January	1.2	4.1	3.9	3.2
February	1.8	3.8	3.9
March	1.9	3.9	4.0
April	2.4	3.6	3.9
May	2.6	3.7	3.7
June	3.0	3.9	3.8
July	2.7	4.3	3.5
August	3.3	4.3	3.4
September	3.3	4.3	3.4
October	4.0	4.0	3.4
November	3.7	3.7	3.3
December	3.9	3.7	3.4
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.

*Table 3: Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees by Month 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs in thousands)						Percent Change
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
January	381.8	386.5	402.3	417.8	431.3	13.0	3.2
February	382.0	389.0	403.9	419.8
March	383.6	390.8	406.0	422.3
April	384.3	393.4	407.8	423.7
May	385.6	395.6	410.3	425.7
June	385.2	397.0	412.3	427.8
July	386.2	396.5	413.7	428.2
August	384.5	397.0	414.2	428.5
September	384.5	397.3	414.6	428.7
October	384.7	399.9	416.0	430.2
November	386.9	401.3	416.0	429.9
December	386.2	401.4	416.3	430.6
12-Month Average	384.6	395.5	411.1	426.1
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.

*Table 4: Airline Group Full-time Equivalent Employees, January 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs in thousands)
	Network Airlines	Low-Cost Airlines	Regional Airlines	Other Airlines	All Passenger Airlines**
2014	255.5	69.7	50.4	6.2	381.8
2015	257.6	72.9	49.5	6.5	386.5
2016	266.2	78.6	50.5	6.8	402.3
2017	272.4	86.3	51.4	7.7	417.8
2018	281.1	88.5	53.8	7.9	431.3
Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2018	65.2	20.5	12.5	1.8	100.0
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. Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 5: Carrier Group Percent of Total Scheduled Passenger Airline FTEs
(January of each year)
Year	Network Airlines	Low-Cost Airlines	Regional Airlines	Other Airlines
2007	64.9	17.8	15.2	2.1
2013	66.9	18.3	13.3	1.5
2017	65.2	20.7	12.3	1.8
2018	65.2	20.5	12.5	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. Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, January 2018
Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*
Rank	Airline	Total FTE Employees	Carrier Group**	Top 10 Airlines January 2017
1	American	100,832	Network	American
2	United	82,364	Network	United
3	Delta	81,487	Network	Delta
4	Southwest	56,527	Low-cost	Southwest
5	JetBlue	17,823	Low-cost	JetBlue
6	Alaska	16,455	Network	Alaska
7	Envoy	12,525	Regional	Envoy
8	SkyWest	12,414	Regional	Skywest
9	Spirit	6,677	Low-cost	ExpressJet
10	Hawaiian	6,090	Other	Spirit
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
	2015	2016	2017	2018
January	0.8	3.3	2.3	3.2
February	1.4	3.2	2.4
March	1.7	2.9	2.7
April	2.4	2.4	2.6
May	2.7	2.3	2.4
June	3.1	2.3	2.5
July	3.1	2.4	2.3
August	3.7	2.5	2.2
September	3.6	2.6	2.1
October	3.6	2.7	2.1
November	3.7	2.3	2.0
December	3.5	2.4	2.0
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

*Table 8: Network Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees by Month 2014 – 2018** (FTEs in thousands)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Percent Change
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
January	255.5	257.6	266.2	272.4	281.1	10.0	3.2
February	255.2	258.8	267.0	273.4
March	256.3	260.8	268.4	275.5
April	256.7	262.9	269.2	276.2
May	257.6	264.4	270.6	277.1
June	257.5	265.5	271.5	278.4
July	257.5	265.6	272.0	278.3
August	256.1	265.6	272.1	278.2
September	256.1	265.3	272.1	277.8
October	256.4	265.7	272.8	278.6
November	256.8	266.3	272.3	277.9
December	257.3	266.1	272.6	278.2
12-Month Average	256.6	263.7	270.6	276.8
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* 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 9: Network Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees, January 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs for January of each year. Ranked by January 2018 FTEs)
(FTEs in thousands)
							Percent Change
Rank	Carrier	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
1	American (+ US)	91.3	93.0	97.5	99.5	100.8	10.5	1.3
	American	59.7	61.0	97.5	99.5	100.8	68.9	1.3
	US Airways	31.6	32.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	United	81.4	78.4	79.1	82.1	82.4	1.2	0.3
3	Delta	73.4	76.0	78.7	79.2	81.5	11.1	2.9
4	Alaska	9.5	10.2	11.0	11.6	16.5	72.9	41.7
	Total	255.5	257.6	266.2	272.4	281.1	10.0	3.2
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. Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

*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
	2015	2016	2017	2018
January	4.6	7.9	9.7	2.6
February	4.6	8.5	9.4
March	3.9	9.6	9.1
April	4.2	10.2	8.8
May	4.3	10.7	8.3
June	4.9	11.0	8.0
July	5.2	11.3	7.3
August	5.8	11.0	7.0
September	6.6	10.6	6.8
October	6.9	10.3	6.7
November	6.5	9.8	6.5
December	7.8	9.5	6.5
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee. Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

*Table 11: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees by Month 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs in thousands)
						Percent Change
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
January	69.7	72.9	78.6	86.3	88.5	27.0	2.6
February	70.1	73.4	79.6	87.0
March	70.4	73.2	80.2	87.5
April	70.8	73.7	81.2	88.3
May	71.1	74.2	82.1	88.9
June	71.1	74.6	82.8	89.4
July	71.3	75.0	83.5	89.6
August	71.4	75.5	83.8	89.7
September	71.4	76.2	84.3	90.0
October	72.1	77.1	85.0	90.8
November	73.0	77.8	85.4	91.0
December	72.4	78.0	85.4	91.0
12-Month Average	71.2	75.1	82.7	89.1
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* 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 12: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees, January 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs for January of each year. Ranked by January 2018 FTEs)
							Percent Change
Rank	Carrier	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
1	Southwest	44,983	46,588	49,981	54,051	56,527	25.7	4.6
2	JetBlue	13,119	13,751	15,255	16,789	17,823	35.9	6.2
3	Spirit	3,604	4,033	4,808	5,642	6,677	85.3	18.3
4	Allegiant	2,080	2,397	2,894	3,429	3,749	80.2	9.3
5	Frontier	3,412	3,612	2,962	3,414	3,726	9.2	9.1
6	Virgin America	2,495	2,528	2,738	2,962	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Total	69,693	72,909	78,638	86,287	88,502	27.0	2.6
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

*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	2015	2016	2017	2018
January	-1.9	2.2	1.8	4.6
February	-0.3	0.2	2.4
March	-0.5	0.1	2.0
April	-0.4	0.1	2.1
May	-0.3	0.2	2.5
June	0.1	0.9	2.6
July	-3.3	3.3	2.7
August	-2.7	3.3	3.3
September	-2.7	2.9	4.3
October	1.4	0.3	5.2
November	-0.2	0.2	5.4
December	0.9	0.2	6.0
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* 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 14: Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees by Month 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs in thousands)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Percent Change
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
January	50.4	49.5	50.5	51.4	53.8	6.7	4.6
February	50.5	50.3	50.4	51.6
March	50.6	50.4	50.4	51.4
April	50.5	50.3	50.4	51.4
May	50.6	50.5	50.6	51.8
June	50.3	50.4	50.8	52.1
July	51.1	49.4	51.0	52.4
August	50.7	49.3	51.0	52.6
September	50.6	49.2	50.7	52.9
October	49.8	50.5	50.6	53.3
November	50.6	50.5	50.6	53.3
December	50.1	50.5	50.6	53.6
12-Month Average	50.5	50.1	50.6	52.3
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee. Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

*Table 15: Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees, January 2014 - 2018**
(FTEs for January of each year. Ranked by January 2018 FTEs)
							Percent Change
Rank	Airline	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2014 - 2018	2017 - 2018
1	Envoy	11,017	10,693	10,657	11,059	12,525	13.7	13.3
2	SkyWest	9,816	9,700	10,438	10,985	12,414	26.5	13.0
3	YX/S5/RP Combined#	5,886	5,904	5,410	5,516	5,425	-7.8	-1.6
	Republic	2,747	3,141	3,133	5,516	5,425	N/A	N/A
	Shuttle America	1,977	2,763	2,277	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Chautauqua	1,162	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	Endeavor	3,911	3,383	3,321	3,811	4,246	8.6	11.4
5	ExpressJet	9,178	8,525	7,325	6,233	4,234	-53.9	-32.1
6	Horizon	2,795	2,881	3,277	3,287	3,591	28.5	9.2
7	PSA	1,166	1,799	2,496	2,815	3,519	201.8	25.0
8	Mesa	1,817	2,272	2,828	3,074	3,231	77.8	5.1
9	Compass	1,196	1,294	1,715	1,934	1,884	57.5	-2.6
10	Air Wisconsin	2,512	1,914	1,840	1,401	1,466	-41.6	4.6
11	GoJet	1,131	1,112	1,237	1,315	1,283	13.4	-2.4
	Total	50,425	49,477	50,544	51,430	53,818	6.7	4.6
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.