BTS Airline Employment Data

U.S. Airline Employment

Monthly full-time, part-time and total airline employment history, searchable from January 1990 through June 2026.

Latest Employment
1,040,687
June 2026
Month-over-Month
+0.2%
Compared with previous month
Year-over-Year
+2.5%
Compared with same month one year earlier
Historical Peak
1,071,421
November 2025

Employment Trend

Top 25 Airline Employers

June 2026
RankAirlineTotalFull-timePart-timeYoY
1Federal Express (FX)459,105230,515228,590+2.9%
2United (UA)116,37097,08519,285+5.4%
3American (AA)111,93099,88312,047+2.2%
4Delta (DL)107,423104,6282,795+0.8%
5Southwest (WN)75,14271,7703,372+2.3%
6Alaska (AS)29,51826,5212,997+39.4%
7JetBlue (B6)21,77918,7013,078-1.4%
8Envoy Air (MQ)20,68813,4907,198+6.0%
9SkyWest (OO)16,05113,9982,053+7.4%
10Piedmont (PT)10,5195,9884,531-1.0%
11Frontier (F9)8,3738,33142+7.5%
12United Parcel Service (5X)7,5987,52375+7.2%
13Republic Airline (YX)6,9136,681232+8.1%
14Allegiant Air (G4)6,0925,277815-6.4%
15PSA (OH)5,2315,2310+4.7%
16Endeavor Air (9E)5,1135,05360+7.3%
17Atlas Air (5Y)4,6324,58448+5.1%
18Horizon Air (QX)3,8982,7001,198+5.3%
19Sun Country Airlines (SY)3,2972,301996+0.1%
20Kalitta Air (KAQ)3,2623,24814-2.5%
21Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze (MX)3,0812,0621,019+27.1%
22Mesa (YV)1,6541,6513+2.8%
23GoJet Airlines (G7)1,3701,3700+18.4%
24Air Transport International (8C)1,1711,1710-4.8%
25CommuteAir dba CommuteAir (C5)1,1211,1192-7.7%

Interactive Carrier Ranking

RankAirlineTotalFull-timePart-timeYoYLatest Month

Largest Year-over-Year Changes

Latest available carrier month

Historical Employment Records

All-Time Peak
1,071,421November 2025
Historical Low
537,534September 1990
2026 Monthly Average
1,031,8575 reported months
Workforce Mix
72% FT28% part-time in June 2026

Search Monthly Industry Data

MonthYearFull-timePart-timeGrand TotalYoY

Airline Employment Profiles

View all airlines →

Federal Express (FX)

459,105 employees in June 2026

United (UA)

116,370 employees in June 2026

American (AA)

111,930 employees in June 2026

Delta (DL)

107,423 employees in June 2026

Southwest (WN)

75,142 employees in June 2026

Alaska (AS)

29,518 employees in June 2026

JetBlue (B6)

21,779 employees in June 2026

Envoy Air (MQ)

20,688 employees in June 2026

SkyWest (OO)

16,051 employees in June 2026

Piedmont (PT)

10,519 employees in June 2026

Frontier (F9)

8,373 employees in June 2026

United Parcel Service (5X)

7,598 employees in June 2026

Future Integrated Metrics

Employment per Aircraft

This will combine BTS employment with Flightline Intel T-100 fleet and operating data after the T-100 airline module is finalized.

Employment vs. Passenger Traffic

This will compare airline staffing with passenger volume and capacity using T-100 and Flightline Intel demand data.

Data note: Employment figures are reported by U.S. airlines to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Carrier restructurings, mergers, name changes and reporting changes can affect historical comparisons. Rankings compare each carrier's latest available record, which may not be the same reporting month for every airline.