U.S. Airlines: Total Number of Employees (both Full-Time and Part-Time)
U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment decreased to 1,009,141 workers in January 2025, 5,188 (0.51%) less workers than in December 2024 (1,014,329).
U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 543,887 workers in January 2025, or 54% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines lost 411 employees in January 2025. United Air Lines, Inc. led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 791 employees; Southwest Airlines Co. added 194, and Envoy Air added 098.
U.S. cargo airlines employed 461,029 workers in January 2025, or 46% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers lost 5,018 employees in January. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer, decreased employment by 4,966 jobs.
Scheduled passenger airlines lost 329 full-time equivalents in January 2025
U.S. Airline Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)
BTS calculates FTEs by dividing the number of part-time employees by 2 and adding that figure to the number of full-time employees. The January 2025 industry-wide numbers include 748,054 full-time and 261,087 part-time workers for a total of 878,598 FTEs, a decrease from December of 3,499 FTEs (0.40%).
The 26 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for January 2025 employed 514,975 FTEs, 329 FTEs (0.06%) less than in December 2024. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.
U.S. cargo airlines employed 359,486 FTEs in January 2025, down 3,398 FTEs (0.94%) from December 2024.
Reporting Notes
Data is compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of March 14, 2024. Additional airline employment data and previous releases can be found on the BTS website. The month-to-month numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Passenger, cargo, and charter 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. Regulations require U.S. airlines to report employment numbers for employees who worked or received pay for any part of the pay period(s) ending nearest the 15th day of the month.
See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for detailed data (Tables 1-15) and industry summary monthly data since 1990. Additional individual airline numbers are available on the BTS airline employment web page. The web page provides full-time and part-time employment numbers by carrier by month from 1990 through January 2025.
The next update for U.S. airline employment is scheduled for April 16, 2025.
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Tags: U.S. Airlines, US DOT
