BTS releases passenger airline employment data for July

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation, recently released a report about passenger airline employment data for the month of July 2015.

Compared to July 2014, scheduled passenger airlines has employed 2.7 percent more workers in July 2015. This is the 20th month in a row to show an increase in full-time equivalent (FTE) employment with U.S. scheduled passenger airlines.

The number of FTEs decreased month-to-month by 0.1 percent between June and July 2015. This is the first decrease after six months of increases.

The category of scheduled passenger airlines includes low-cost, network, regional and other airlines. Four network airlines have collectively employed two-thirds of the FTEs of scheduled passenger airlines, which is 3.1 percent more for July 2015 than July 2014. Historical employment data is available on the BTS website.

In addition, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines have increased their FTEs compared to July 2014. United Airlines has decreased its FTEs, and American Airlines has shown a 5.6  percent increase in FTEs for July 2015, surpassing U.S. Airways and American's separately reported number for July 2014.

The month-to-month number of FTEs at network airlines has not changed for nine months in a row. Network airlines run a large portion of their flights from at least one hub, making connections to their other destinations.