"Table 6: Low-Cost Carrier FTE Employees, July 2001-2005*",,,,,,,,
(Ranked by July 2005 FTE Employees),,,,,,,,
Rank,,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,"Percentage
Full-time Employees   ",
,,,,,,,2001              2005,
1,Southwest,"30,741","33,517","33,062","31,676","31,428",97.6,98.4
2,America West,"12,507","11,699","10,804","11,472","11,941",79.5,76.6
3,JetBlue,"1,607","2,959","4,509","6,052","7,674",72.0,81.4
4,AirTran,"4,206","4,592","5,324","5,720","6,293",89.7,92.7
5,ATA,"7,257","7,094","7,493","6,688","4,486",88.0,91.9
6,Frontier,"2,332","2,661","2,985","3,969","4,117",82.5,79.3
7,Independence,N/A,N/A,"4,232","4,348","3,165",N/A,85.8
8,Spirit,"2,131","2,270","2,315","2,426","2,153",85.0,89.1
,Total***,"60,781","64,792","70,724","72,351","71,257",90.1,89.6
* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count part-time workers as one-half of a full-time employee.,,,,,,,,
"**Employment numbers in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers.  The carrier did not meet the standard for filing in previous years.",,,,,,,,
*** Total numbers for carriers operating in 2005. ,,,,,,,,
 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics,,,,,,,,