BTS releases passenger airline employment data for September 2015

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), published the data for passenger airline employment rates for the month of September 2015 on Monday.

This is the 22nd month in a row that full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for scheduled passenger airlines in the United States surpassed the figures for the same month from the year before. The data shows that scheduled passenger airlines have employed approximately 3.3 percent more people during Sept. 2015 compared to Sept. 2014. This is the highest total for a single month since Sept. 2008.

In Sept. 2015, rates of passenger airline employment for month-to-month amounts to a 0.1 percent increase in FTE employees compared to Aug. This is another increase for the second month in a row.

The BTS includes low-cost, network, regional as well as other airlines in the category for scheduled passenger airlines. All four network airlines together employ approximately two-thirds of the FTEs in scheduled passenger airlines, amounting to a 3.6 percent increase for September 2015 compared to September 2014.

For network airlines, their FTEs declined by 0.1 percent between Aug. and Sept. 2015. These airlines run a large portion of their flights with a minimum of one hub. A total of six low-cost carriers have shown a 6.5 percent increase in FTEs for September 2015 compared to the same month last year. Regional airlines also had a rise in employment levels.

Employment data is available on the main website of the BTS.