U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment increased to 1,004,213 workers in July 2024, 1,513 (0.15%) more workers than in June 2024 (1,002,700).

U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 546,083 workers in July 2024, or 55% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines lost 363 employees in July 2024. United Air Lines Inc. led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 157 employees; PSA Airlines Inc. added 115, and SkyWest Airlines Inc. added 111.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 454,569 workers in July 2024, or 45% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers gained 2414 employees in July. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer, increased employment by 2352 jobs.

Scheduled passenger airlines lost 437 full-time equivalents in July 2024

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 2024 industry-wide numbers include 749,113 full-time and 255,100 part-time workers for a total of 876,663 FTEs, a decrease from June of 200.5 FTEs (0.02%).

The 26 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for July 2024 employed 517,089 FTEs, 437 FTEs (0.08%) less than in June 2024. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 356,070 FTEs in July 2024, up 715 FTEs (0.20%) from June 2024.

Reporting Notes

Data is compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of September 5, 2024. 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 July 2024.