BTS 26-15

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: FedEx, the leading air cargo employer alone decreased employment by 29,113 jobs in December 2025.

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 decreased to 1,043,726 workers in December 2025, 27,659 (2.58%) fewer workers than in November 2025 (1,071,385).

U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 553,527 workers in December 2025, or 53% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines gained 1,649 employees in December 2025. Alaska Airlines led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 766 employees; Spirit Air Lines added 569, and PSA Airlines added 385.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 486,068 workers in December 2025, or 47% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers lost 29,185 employees in December 2025. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer decreased employment by 29,113 jobs. Other cargo carriers lost 72 employees in December 2025.

 
See FedEx note for discontinuity in May 2024.

Scheduled passenger airlines gained 1,545 full-time equivalents in December 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 December 2025 industry-wide numbers include 757,113 full-time and 286,613 part-time workers for a total of 900,420 FTEs, a decrease from November 2025 (915,741) of 15,321 FTEs (1.67%).

The 25 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for December 2025 employed 523,888 FTEs, 1,545 FTEs (0.30%) more than in November 2025 (522,343). Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 372,483 FTEs in December 2025, down 16,748 FTEs (4.30%) from November 2025 (389,231).

Reporting Notes

Data is compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of February 6, 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 December 2025.

Missing Carrier: Ameristar Air Cargo (AMQ), and Scott Aviation (3EQ).

The next update for U.S. airline employment is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

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