BTS 26-10

This release is published on a fixed schedule as required by the Office of Management and Budget, and statistics in this release may be revised when inputs to the statistics are corrected or updated. Data on the program page of this website are the most up-to-date and complete.

Note: In June 2024, FedEx Ground and FedEx Services merged with FedEx Express to form Federal Express Corporation. Consequently, carrier FX experienced a significant increase in employee count, thereby increasing the total number of employees within the industry.

May 2024 Federal Express numbers are 233,739, while Federal Express Corporation June 2024 numbers are 432,127.

U.S. Airlines: Total Number of Employees (both Full-Time and Part-Time)

U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment increased to 1,071,385 workers in November 2025, 21,839 (2.08%) more workers than in October 2025 (1,049,546).

U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 551,878 workers in November 2025, or 52% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines gained 1,708 employees in November 2025. American Airlines led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 703 employees; Delta Air Lines added 382, and Southwest Airlines added 292.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 515,253 workers in November 2025, or 48% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers gained 20,210 employees in November 2025. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer thanks in part to inclusion of its ground operations, increased employment by 20,281 jobs. Other cargo carriers lost 71 employees in November.

See FedEx note for discontinuity in May 2024.

Scheduled passenger airlines gained 1,480 full-time equivalents in November 2025

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 2025 industry-wide numbers include 760,096 full-time and 311,289 part-time workers for a total of 915,741 FTEs, an increase from October of 14,367 FTEs (1.59%).

The 25 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for November 2025 employed 522,343 FTEs, 1,480 FTEs (0.28%) more than in October 2025. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 389,231 FTEs in November 2025, up 12,963 FTEs (3.45%) from October 2025.
 

Reporting Notes

Data is compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of January 13, 2026. Additional airline employment data and previous releases can be found on the BTS website. The month-to-month numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Passenger, cargo, and charter 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. Regulations require U.S. airlines to report employment numbers for employees who worked or received pay for any part of the pay period(s) ending nearest the 15th day of the month.

See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for detailed data (Tables 1-15) and industry summary monthly data since 1990. Additional individual airline numbers are available on the BTS airline employment web page. The web page provides full-time and part-time employment numbers by carrier by month from 1990 through November 2025.

Missing Carrier: Ameristar Air Cargo (AMQ).

The next update for U.S. airline employment is scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026.

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