BTS Releases September Passenger Airline Employment Data; September 2009 Employment Down 4.4 Percent from September 2008
U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 4.4 percent fewer workers in September 2009 than in September 2008, the 15th consecutive decrease in full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. FTE calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the September FTE total of 380,014 for the scheduled passenger carriers was 17,380 below September 2008 and the lowest total for any month since 1993. Historical employment data can be found on the BTS web site at http://www.bts.gov/airline_employment/src/index.xml .
All the network airlines decreased employment from September 2008 to September 2009 as did low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Regional carriers American Eagle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Comair, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, Horizon Air, Mesa Airlines, Air Wisconsin Airlines, and Colgan Airlines also reported reduced employment levels compared to last year.
Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines.
The seven network airlines employed 254,866 FTEs in September, 67.1 percent of the passenger airline total, while low-cost carriers employed 16.4 percent and regional carriers employed 14.7 percent.
See BTS Passenger Airline Employment press release for summary tables and additional data.