U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.7 percent more workers in December 2015 than in December 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. December was the highest monthly total (400,422) since August 2008 and was the 25th consecutive month that U.S. scheduled passenger airlines full-time equivalent (FTE) employment exceeded the same month of the previous year (Tables 1, 2, 3).

Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-Time Equivalent Employees, Month of December, 1990-2015

Month-to-month, the number of FTEs was virtually unchanged from November to December, after four consecutive month-to-month increases (Table 1A). Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. Historical employment data can be found on the BTS web site.

The four network airlines that collectively employ two-thirds of the scheduled passenger airline FTEs reported 3.5 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014 (Table 7). Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines increased FTEs from December 2014 while United Airlines’ FTEs were virtually unchanged (Table 9). American Airlines, which has merged with US Airways, reported 5.2 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than American and US Airways reported separately in December 2014. July 2015 was the first month for which the two merged airlines submitted a combined report. Month-to-month, the number of network airline FTEs was virtually unchanged from November to December (Table 1A). Network airlines operate a significant portion of their flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities.

The six low-cost carriers reported 7.7 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014 (Table 10). Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Virgin America, Southwest Airlines reported increases while Frontier Airlines reduced FTEs (Table 12). Month-to-month, the number of low-cost airline FTEs rose 0.2 percent from November to December, rising for the ninth consecutive month (Table 1A). Low-cost airlines operate under a low-cost business model, with infrastructure and aircraft operating costs below the overall industry average.

The 12 regional carriers reported 1.0 percent fewer FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014 (Table 13). Six regional airlines – PSA Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Compass Airlines, Horizon Air, SkyWest Airlines and Republic Airlines – reported increased employment levels. The others reported decreases (Table 15). Month-to-month, the number of regional airline FTEs was virtually unchanged from November to December (Table 1A). Regional carriers typically provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers’ hub and spoke systems.

Carrier Groups: The four network airlines employed 66.5 percent of the 400,422 FTEs employed by all scheduled passenger airlines in December, the six low-cost carriers employed 19.5 percent and the 12 regional carriers employed 12.4 percent (Table 4). The three airlines with the most FTEs in December – American, Delta and United– employed 63.7 percent of the month’s total passenger airline FTEs (Tables 3, 6). From 2006 to 2015, the network share of FTEs rose from 64.9 percent to 66.5 percent, the low-cost share rose from 17.9 percent to 19.5 percent and the regional airline share dropped from 14.4 percent to 12.4 percent (Table 5).

Top Employers by Group: American employed the most FTEs (97,285) in December among the network airlines, Southwest employed the most FTEs (49,583) among low-cost airlines, and SkyWest employed the most FTEs (10,411) among regional airlines. The top three employers in the industry are network airlines (Table 6).    

Airline Mergers: Airlines that announce mergers typically begin joint reporting following U.S. Department of Transportation approval and issuance of a single economic certificate. American and US Airways began reporting jointly with the report of July employment numbers. The airlines announced a merger in January 2013.

Network Airlines
The network airlines employed 3.5 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014 and 2.4 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2011 (Tables 8, 9).

Low-Cost Airlines
The six low-cost airlines employed 7.7 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014 and 13.2 percent more FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2011 (Tables 11, 12).

Regional Airlines
Regional airlines employed 1.0 percent fewer FTEs in December 2015 than in December 2014.  The 12 regional carriers reporting in December 2015 employed 7.1 percent fewer FTEs in December 2015 than the 17 carriers reporting in December 2011 (Tables 14, 15).

Reporting Notes

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.

The “Other Carrier” category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets such as the Hawaiian Islands served by Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of Feb. 9. Additional airline employment data and previous press releases can be found on the BTS website. BTS has scheduled release of January passenger airline employment data for March 17.  

Table 1: Yearly Change in Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Airline Group

Most recent 13 months - percent change from same month of the previous year

	Network Airlines	Low-Cost Airlines	Regional Airlines	All Passenger Airlines**
Dec 2013-Dec 2014	0.8	4.4	-0.2	1.4
Jan 2014-Jan 2015	0.8	4.6	-1.9	1.2
Feb 2014-Feb 2015	1.4	4.6	-0.3	1.8
Mar 2014-Mar 2015	1.7	4.0	-0.5	1.9
Apr 2014-Apr 2015	2.4	4.2	-0.4	2.4
May 2014-May 2015	2.7	4.3	-0.3	2.6
Jun 2014-Jun 2015	3.1	4.9	0.1	3.0
Jul 2014-Jul 2015	3.1	5.2	-3.3	2.7
Aug 2014-Aug 2015	3.7	5.8	-2.7	3.3
Sep 2014-Sep 2015	3.6	6.5	-2.7	3.3
Oct 2014-Oct 2015	3.6	6.7	-0.6	3.7
Nov 2014-Nov 2015	3.7	6.4	-2.1	3.4
Dec 2014-Dec 2015	3.5	7.7	-1.0	3.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other Carriers generally operate within specific niche markets. They are: Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Note: See Table 2 for all passenger airlines, Table 7 for Network, Table 10 for Low-Cost and Table 13 for Regional.

Table 1A: Monthly Change in Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Airline Group

Percent change in FTEs from the previous month

	Network Airlines	Low-Cost Airlines	Regional Airlines	All Passenger Airlines**
Dec 2014-Jan 2015	0.1	0.7	-1.2	0.1
Jan 2015-Feb 2015	0.5	0.6	1.7	0.6
Feb 2015-Mar 2015	0.8	-0.2	0.1	0.5
Mar 2015-Apr 2015	0.8	1.7	-0.1	0.7
Apr 2015-May 2015	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.6
May 2015-Jun 2015	0.4	0.6	-0.2	0.3
Jun 2015-Jul 2015	0.0	0.5	-1.8	-0.1
Jul 2015-Aug 2015	0.0	0.7	-0.2	0.1
Aug 2015-Sep 2015	-0.1	0.7	-0.2	0.1
Sep 2015-Oct 2015	0.1	1.1	0.6	0.4
Oct 2015-Nov 2015	0.2	0.8	0.1	0.3
Nov 2015-Dec 2015	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other Carriers generally operate within specific niche markets. They are: Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Note: See Table 2 for all passenger airlines, Table 7 for Network, Table 10 for Low-Cost and Table 13 for Regional.

Table 2: Change from Previous Year in Scheduled Passenger Airline* Full-time Equivalent Employees**

Percent change compared to same month the previous year

Month	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	2.1	-2.3	0.5	1.2
February	2.1	-2.5	0.4	1.8
March	2.1	-2.7	0.8	1.9
April	1.8	-2.4	1.0	2.6
May	1.6	-2.5	1.1	2.6
June	1.1	-2.4	0.9	3.0
July	1.4	-2.6	1.3	2.7
August	0.6	-2.2	1.0	3.3
September	0.2	-1.6	1.1	3.3
October	-1.3	-0.8	0.9	3.7
November	-2.0	-0.1	1.5	3.4
December	-2.6	0.3	1.4	3.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

** Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 3: Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2011-2015

Month	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
						2011-2015	2014-2015
January	380,949	388,778	380,042	381,819	386,559	1.5	1.2
February	381,831	389,901	380,375	381,985	388,983	1.9	1.8
March	387,063	390,761	380,536	383,575	390,841	1.0	1.9
April	383,721	390,243	380,957	384,265	393,446	2.5	2.4
May	385,027	390,957	381,423	385,619	395,626	2.8	2.6
June	386,844	390,923	381,672	385,243	396,973	2.6	3.0
July	387,240	391,286	381,299	386,243	396,503	2.4	2.7
August	386,783	389,000	380,564	384,478	397,007	2.6	3.3
September	385,548	386,372	380,165	384,501	397,226	3.0	3.3
October	386,371	384,310	381,178	384,700	398,946	3.3	3.7
November	386,336	381,639	381,224	386,912	400,309	3.6	3.5
December	386,720	379,576	380,809	386,222	400,422	3.5	3.7
12-Month Average	385,369	387,812	380,854	384,630	395,237	2.6	2.8

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

** Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 4: Airline Group Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2011-2015

	Network	Low-Cost	Regional	All Passenger Airlines**
2011	259,822	68,889	53,332	382,043
2012	254,064	69,780	50,423	379,571
2013	255,155	69,365	50,191	380,809
2014	257,251	72,399	50,083	386,222
2015	266,136	77,969	49,569	400,422
Percent of Total Passenger Airline Employees in 2015	66.5%	19.5%	12.4%	100%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

Table 5: Carrier Group Percent of Total Scheduled Passenger Airline FTEs 2006-2015

(December of each year)

	Network	Low-Cost	Regional	Other
2006	64.9	17.9	14.4	2.8
2010	67.7	17.0	13.8	1.5
2014	66.6	18.7	13.0	1.7
2015	66.5	19.5	12.4	1.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, December 2015

Ranked by Number of Full-Time Equivalent Employees*

Rank	Airline	Total FTE Employees	Carrier Group**	Top 10 Airlines December 2014
1	American	97,285	Network	United
2	Delta	79,072	Network	Delta
3	United	78,858	Network	American
4	Southwest	49,583	Low-Cost	Southwest
5	JetBlue	15,219	Low-Cost	US Airways
6	Alaska	10,921	Network	JetBlue
7	SkyWest	10,411	Regional	Envoy
8	Envoy	9,748	Regional	Alaska
9	ExpressJet	7,394	Regional	SkyWest
10	Spirit	4,702	Low-Cost	ExpressJet

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** See Table 9 for Network, Table 12 for Low-Cost and Table 15 for Regional.

Table 7: Network Airline Year-to-Year Change in Full-time Equivalent Employees* from the Previous Year

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	1.5	-3.1	0.4	0.8
February	1.2	-3.0	0.1	1.4
March	1.2	-3.3	0.6	1.7
April	1.3	-3.0	0.4	2.4
May	1.3	-3.0	0.5	2.7
June	0.8	-2.8	0.3	3.1
July	0.6	-2.8	0.4	3.1
August	0.4	-2.5	0.1	3.7
September	0.3	-2.1	0.4	3.6
October	-1.4	-1.4	0.3	3.6
November	-2.4	-0.4	0.4	3.7
December	-3.3	0.4	0.8	3.5

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Table 8: Network Airlines Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2011-2015

Month	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
						2011-2015	2014-2015
January	258,889	262,561	254,377	255,518	257,627	-0.5	0.8
February	259,816	262,788	254,955	255,158	258,796	-0.4	1.4
March	260,773	263,464	254,870	256,342	260,794	0.0	1.7
April	260,649	263,666	255,673	256,732	262,905	0.9	2.4
May	261,154	264,183	256,272	257,578	264,438	1.3	2.7
June	262,145	264,301	256,791	257,491	265,486	1.3	3.1
July	262,208	263,793	256,474	257,541	265,551	1.3	3.1
August	261,316	262,428	255,800	256,095	265,567	1.6	3.7
September	259,782	260,651	255,194	256,133	265,315	2.1	3.6
October	260,056	259,245	255,741	256,409	265,704	2.2	3.6
November	260,318	256,836	255,914	256,823	266,251	2.3	3.7
December	259,822	254,065	255,155	257,251	266,136	2.4	3.5
12-Month Average	260,577	261,498	255,601	256,589	263,714	1.2	2.8

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 9: Network Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2011-2015

(FTEs for December of each year. Ranked by December 2015 FTEs)

Rank	Airline	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
							2011-2015	2014-2015
1	AA/US Combined	96,597	89,884	90,922	92,477	97,285	0.7	5.2
	American**	66,131	59,574	59,458	60,714	97,285	N/A	N/A
	US Airways**	30,466	30,310	31,464	31,763	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	Delta	73,171	72,529	73,356	75,737	79,072	8.1	4.4
3	UA/CO Combined	81,084	82,383	81,368	78,835	78,858	-2.7	0.0
	United***	43,950	82,383	81,368	78,835	78,858	N/A	0.0
	Continental***	37,134	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	Alaska	8,970	9,269	9,509	10,202	10,921	21.8	7.0
	Total	259,822	254,065	255,155	257,251	266,136	2.4	3.5

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** American Airlines and US Airways merged and began reporting combined numbers in July 2015.

*** United Airlines and Continental Airlines merged and began reporting combined numbers in January 2012.

Table 10: Low-Cost Airline Year-to-Year Change in Full-time Equivalent Employees* from the Previous Year

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

Month	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	5.7	1.1	0.3	4.6
February	6.4	0.2	0.7	4.6
March	7.1	-0.1	0.8	4.0
April	5.7	-0.3	1.5	4.2
May	5.3	-0.3	1.8	4.3
June	4.0	-0.6	5.0	4.9
July	3.5	-0.4	2.5	5.2
August	2.5	0.0	3.0	5.8
September	2.5	-0.2	2.9	6.5
October	1.9	-0.1	3.8	6.9
November	1.4	-0.1	5.2	6.5
December	1.3	-0.6	4.4	7.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 11: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2011-2015

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
						2011-2015	2014-2015
January	64,978	68,684	69,464	69,693	72,909	12.2	4.6
February	65,323	69,473	69,595	70,135	73,351	12.3	4.6
March	65,467	69,886	69,853	70,384	73,180	11.8	4.0
April	66,117	69,861	69,675	70,751	73,695	11.5	4.2
May	66,555	70,053	69,817	71,095	74,167	11.4	4.3
June	67,263	69,969	69,574	71,074	74,592	10.9	4.9
July	67,375	69,756	69,510	71,272	74,999	11.3	5.2
August	67,683	69,380	69,364	71,387	75,549	11.6	5.8
September	67,876	69,575	69,426	71,428	76,076	12.1	6.5
October	68,269	69,551	69,496	72,110	77,063	12.9	6.9
November	68,451	69,441	69,402	73,014	77,783	13.6	6.5
December	68,889	69,781	69,365	72,399	77,969	13.2	7.7
12-Month Average	67,021	69,618	69,545	71,229	75,111	12.1	5.5

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: Percent changes and averages based on numbers prior to rounding.

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Table 12: Low-Cost Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2011-2015

(FTEs for December of each year. Ranked by December 2015 FTEs)

Rank		2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
							2011-2015	2014-2015
1	WN/FL Combined	45,663	45,861	44,831	46,278	49,583	8.6	7.1
	Southwest**	37,641	45,861	44,831	46,278	49,583	N/A	7.1
	AirTran	8,022	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	JetBlue	12,133	12,460	12,952	13,665	15,219	25.4	11.4
3	Spirit	2,733	3,367	3,543	3,925	4,702	72.0	19.8
4	Frontier	4,658	3,898	3,494	3,625	2,887	-38.0	-20.4
5	Allegiant	1,590	1,816	2,065	2,405	2,843	78.8	18.2
6	Virgin America	2,112	2,379	2,480	2,501	2,735	29.5	9.4
	Total	68,889	69,781	69,365	72,399	77,969	13.2	7.7

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways merged and began reporting combined employment numbers in April 2012.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 13: Regional Airline Year-to-Year Change in Full-time Equivalent Employees* from the Previous Year

Percent change compared to same month of the previous year

Month	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	0.1	-4.1	-0.4	-1.9
February	0.8	-5.0	0.5	-0.3
March	0.2	-4.6	0.9	-0.5
April	-1.5	-3.8	2.3	-0.4
May	-2.2	-4.5	2.4	-0.3
June	-2.5	-4.4	1.9	0.1
July	-0.9	-6.3	3.5	-3.3
August	-2.3	-5.1	2.5	-2.7
September	-4.3	-3.0	1.9	-2.7
October	-6.0	-0.8	-0.2	-0.6
November	-5.4	-0.5	1.5	-2.1
December	-5.4	-0.5	-0.2	-1.0

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 14: Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Month 2011-2015

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
						2011-2015	2014-2015
January	52,764	52,796	50,640	50,425	49,484	-6.2	-1.9
February	52,413	52,831	50,188	50,458	50,325	-4.0	-0.3
March	52,470	52,581	50,180	50,623	50,368	-4.0	-0.5
April	52,601	51,811	49,861	50,526	50,333	-4.3	-0.4
May	52,933	51,746	49,478	50,633	50,474	-4.6	-0.3
June	52,987	51,664	49,415	50,336	50,373	-4.9	0.1
July	53,201	52,715	49,387	51,107	49,403	-7.1	-3.3
August	53,288	52,082	49,434	50,671	49,320	-7.4	-2.7
September	53,363	51,085	49,546	50,574	49,231	-7.7	-2.7
October	53,494	50,305	49,890	49,789	49,504	-7.5	-0.6
November	52,957	50,100	49,851	50,605	49,551	-6.4	-2.1
December	53,332	50,426	50,191	50,083	49,569	-7.1	-1.0
12-Month Average	52,984	51,679	49,838	50,486	49,828	-6.0	-1.3

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 15: Regional Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees*, December 2011-2015

(FTEs for December of each year. Ranked by December 2015 FTEs)

Rank		2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Percent Change
							2011-2015	2014-2015
1	SkyWest	9,426	9,300	9,696	9,642	10,411	10	8
2	Envoy	10,091	10,754	11,030	10,841	9,748	-3	-10
3	XE/EV Combined	9,324	8,779	9,054	8,671	7,394	-21	-15
	ExpressJet**	5,484	8,779	9,054	8,671	7,394	N/A	-15
	Atlantic Southeast**	3,840	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	9E/XJ Combined	5,694	4,732	3,920	3,447	3,292	-42	-4
	Endeavor***	3,861	4,732	3,920	3,447	3,292	N/A	-4
	Mesaba***	1,833	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
5	Horizon	2,830	2,694	2,731	2,895	3,214	14	11
6	Republic	1,949	2,137	2,647	3,122	3,124	60	0
7	Mesa	1,810	1,540	1,804	2,204	2,790	54	27
8	PSA	1,041	1,088	1,120	1,799	2,454	136	36
9	S5/RP Combined	1,561	3,192	3,111	2,761	2,418	55	-12
	Shuttle America#	1,561	1,876	1,982	2,715	2,418	N/A	N/A
	Chautauqua#	N/A	1,316	1,129	46	N/A	N/A	N/A
10	Air Wisconsin	2,551	2,525	2,467	1,893	1,834	-28	-3
11	Compass	1,046	1,199	1,279	1,466	1,653	58	13
12	GoJet	746	1,221	1,332	1,342	1,237	66	-8
13	Executive##	1,768	1,264	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
14	Colgan###	1,582	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
15	Comair####	1,913	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Total	53,332	50,426	50,191	50,083	49,569	-7	-1

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

** ExpressJet Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines began reporting combined numbers in January 2012.

*** Endeavor Airlines operated as Pinnacle prior to August 2013. Pinnacle Airlines and Mesaba Airlines began reporting combined numbers in January 2012.

^# Effective July 2012 Chautauqua Airlines began reporting employment data. Chautauqua did not qualify for monthly reporting prior to July 2012 because it did not operate aircraft with more than 60 seats. Effective the end of December 2014, Shuttle America and Chautauqua combined operations and Chautauqua ceased operating.

^## Effective the end of March 2013, Executive Airlines ceased operations.

^### Effective the end of September 2012, Colgan Airlines ceased operations.

^#### Effective the end of October 2012, Comair ceased operations.

N/A: Carriers did not meet the standard for filing, was no longer operating, merged with another operating carrier or failed to file. See previous notes.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.