Down Six Percent From January 2005

US scheduled passenger airlines employed six percent fewer workers in January 2006 than in January 2005, the 13th consecutive month that full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers declined compared to the same month of the previous year, the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported Tuesday.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the January 2005 to January 2006 decline in FTE’s was the sixth consecutive month with a decline in FTE’s of more than 5 percent from the same month of the previous year. In FTE calculations, a part-time employee is counted as one-half a full-time employee.

Scheduled passenger airline FTE’s were lower every month in 2005 in comparison to the same month in 2004.  The last month FTE’s were higher than the previous year was in December 2004, the last of seven consecutive months of increases from the previous year. Scheduled passenger airlines include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. These airlines employed 405,000 FTE’s in January 2006, the lowest total since at least the beginning of 2003.

The seven network carriers employed 270,000 FTE’s in January, 66.5 percent of the passenger airline total. Low-cost carriers employed 17 percent and regional carriers employed 14 percent. The network carriers are the only carrier group to reduce FTE’s each January from the previous year since 2002.

American Airlines employs the most FTE’s among the network carriers, Southwest Airlines employs the most among low-cost carriers, and American Eagle Airlines employs the most among regional carriers. Seven of the top 10 employers in the industry are network carriers.

Airlines that operate at least one aircraft with the capacity to carry combined passengers, cargo and fuel of 18,000 pounds -- the payload factor -- must report monthly employment statistics.

The Other Carrier category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets, such as Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines in serving the Hawaiian Islands.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of March 14.

FMI: http://transtats.bts.gov