Airline employment down 7 percent during 2008
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The nation's major airlines collectively employed nearly 7 percent fewer people in December 2008 than a year earlier, representing the largest year-to-year decrease since 2003, the government reported on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The total of 391,918 full-time equivalent employees in December for network, regional and low-cost passenger carriers was the lowest total since 1993, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The government counts two part-time employees as one full-time employee.
The biggest airlines all had fewer full-time equivalent employee totals in December 2008 from a year earlier, led by United Airlines with 13 percent fewer; Northwest Airlines, 7 percent, and Delta Air Lines, 6 percent. Low-cost carriers AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines, along with regional airlines Comair, PSA Airlines, American Eagle, ExpressJet and SkyWest all had reduced employment during the year, the government reported.
