U.S. passenger airlines employed 5.5 percent fewer people in August than in August 2008, their 14th straight month of decreasing full-time employment.
Network, low-cost and regional airlines all reported declines, according to Tuesday’s report by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
In August, there were a total of 384,396 full-time-equivalent employees — 22,429 fewer than a year earlier and the fewest for any month since 1993.
Of the network airlines, United had the second-largest decrease at 8.4 percent, dropping from 52,665 to 48,283. Northwest was largest at 11.9 percent.
Of low-cost airlines, Southwest dropped from 35,644 to 34,996 and Frontier from 5,055 to 4,825.
American employed the most full- time-equivalent workers in August among the network airlines, Southwest employed the most among low- cost airlines, and American Eagle employed the most among regional airlines. Ann Schrader, The Denver Post
