Jan. 30-- U.S. airlines employed 381,639 people in November, a 2 percent decrease from November 2011 and the third consecutive month full-time equivalent employment has been lower than the same month of the previous year, a federal agency said Tuesday.
American Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2011, reported the largest year-over-year decline in employment -- 7.4 percent -- among major airlines, from 66,400 workers in November 2011 to 61,457 in November 2012, the Department of Transportation said.
Among all airlines, the largest year-over-year drop in employment was reported by Frontier Airlines, which had 3,950 employees in November, down 15.2 percent from the year before, DOT said.
Delta Air Lines, with 73,408 employees in November, reduced its workforce 3.6 percent from November 2011, as the Atlanta-based carrier continued eliminating positions following its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008.
United Airlines, which merged with Continental Airlines in 2010, reported a post-merger total of 82,381 workers in November, a 1.7 percent increase from the 80,997 employees that United and Continental reported separately in November 2011.
Southwest Airlines, which merged with AirTran Airways in May 2011, had 45,953 workers in November, a 0.8 percent increase from the 45,605 employees the two airlines reported separately in November 2011, the federal agency said.
American Eagle, the regional airline affiliate of American Airlines, reported 10,616 workers in November, a 4.5 percent increase from a year earlier.
Among the 16 regional carriers, seven carriers reported reduced employment levels in November compared with November 2011, DOT said. The regionals with decreased employment were ExpressJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Horizon Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, Air Wisconsin and Executive Airlines.
The DOT said the five network airlines employed 67.3 percent of the full-time-equivalent employees working at all airlines in November, the six low-cost airlines employed 18.2 percent and the regional carriers employed 13.1 percent.
The three airlines with the most full-time-equivalent employees in November were United, Delta and American, and they employed 56.9 percent of the total airline full-time-equivalent workers, the agency said.
Airline employment
U.S. airline industry full-time equivalent employment, November (compared with November 2011, November 2002)
--U.S. airlines total: 381,639, down 2 percent from November 2011, down 36.6 percent from November 2002
TOP FIVE U.S. AIRLINES
--United Airlines: 82,381, 1.7 percent increase from November 2011, up 5.8 percent from November 2002
--Delta Air Lines: 73,408, 3.6 percent decrease from November 2011, up 12.8 percent from November 2002
--American Airlines: 61,457, 7.4 percent decrease from November 2011, down 36.2 percent from November 2002
--Southwest Airlines: 45,953, 0.8 percent increase from November 2011, up 34.5 percent from November 2002
--US Airways: 30,383, 0.9 percent decrease from November 2011, down 2.9 percent from November 2002 Source: U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics
D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451
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