United Airlines had about 52,000 full-time equivalent employees in December, down from 54,000 in December 2005.
United’s workforce has been steadily declining for years – four years earlier, United had about 77,000 full-time equivalent employees, according to the report issued today by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. United is the largest carrier at Denver International Airport.
Meanwhile, Denver-based Frontier Airlines’ workforce has grown, to about 5,000 full-time equivalent employees from about 4,000 in December 2005 and 3,000 in December 2002.
The airline industry on the whole has been shrinking its payrolls. U.S. airlines in total had 1.1 percent fewer employees in December 2006 compared with a year ago. But that was the smallest year-over-year decrease since January 2005.
American Airlines had the most full-time equivalent employees in December, with about 73,000.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or at kyamanouchi@denverpost.com .
