U.S. Airline Total Number of Employees (both Full-Time and Part-Time)
U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment increased to 1,035,476 workers in November 2024, 14,163 (1.39%) more workers than in October 2024 (1,021,313).
U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 543,877 workers in November 2024, or 53% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines lost 828 employees in November 2024. United Air Lines Inc. led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 248 employees; Republic Airline added 125, and Allegiant Air added 109.
U.S. cargo airlines employed 487,667 workers in November 2024, or 47% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers gained 15,288 employees in November. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer, increased employment by 15,185 jobs.
Scheduled passenger airlines lost 1,183 full-time equivalents in November 2024 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 November 2024 industry-wide numbers include 753,954 full-time and 281,522 part-time workers for a total of 894,715 FTEs, an increase from October of 7,962 FTEs (0.90%).
The 26 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for November 2024 employed 515,013 FTEs, 1,183 FTEs (0.23%) less than in October 2024. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.
U.S. cargo airlines employed 375,844 FTEs in November 2024, up 9,411 FTEs (2.57%) from October 2024.
