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

U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment increased to 803,893 workers in July 2023, 2,058 (0.26%) more workers than in June 2023 (801,835) and 60,853 (8.19%) more than in pre-pandemic July 2019 (743,040).

U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 528,175 workers in July 2023 or 66% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines added 2,841 employees in July 2023 for a twenty-seventh consecutive month of job growth dating back to May 2021. Southwest led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 1,188 employees; United Air Lines added 927, and Delta Airlines added 545.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 270,963 workers in July 2023, 34% of the industry total. Cargo carriers lost 695 employees in July. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer, decreased employment by 687 jobs.

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 July 2023 industry-wide numbers include 692,449 full-time and 111,444 part-time workers for a total of 748,171 FTEs, an increase from June of 1,900 FTEs (0.25%). July 2023’s total number of FTEs remains just 9.47% above pre-pandemic July 2019’s 683,459 FTEs.

The 26 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for July 2023 employed 501,495 FTEs, 2,987 FTEs (0.60%) more than in June 2023. July 2023’s total number of scheduled passenger airline FTEs is 51,691 FTEs (11.49%) above pre-pandemic July 2019. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 242,010 FTEs in July 2023, down 988 FTEs (0.41%) from June 2023. U.S. cargo airlines have increased FTEs by 12,582 (5.48%) since pre-pandemic July 2019.