Recent figures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that U.S. airlines employment went up slightly in August 2021, but is still below the numbers employed by the airline industry in August 2019.
U.S. airlines employed 718,407 workers in August 2021, a gain of 2,454 workers since July 2021. But when compared to pre-pandemic numbers, the number of employed workers is down 3.2 percent (23,919) compared to August 2019. Of those, 613,657 were full-time employees while 104,750 were part-time — an increase of 5,238 full-time employees and a decrease of 2,784 part-time employees, statistics shows.
Major airlines added 4,320 employees in August, but are still operating below March 2020 levels. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines are operating with 63,341 fewer employees. United Airlines has more than 20,000 fewer workers than at the onset of the pandemic, while Delta is down nearly 15,000, and American Airlines is down nearly 10,000.
Since the onset of the pandemic, SkyWest has lost more than 25 percent of its staff — from 20,544 employees to 15,241. United Airlines and Hawaiian Air have lost around 20 percent of their employees — from 91,563 for United to 71,538 (a 21.87 percent change), and from 7,492 employees for Hawaiian to 6,106 (an 18.5 percent change). Two airlines gained employees — Allegiant with two more employees than they had in March 2020, and Spirit with 246 more employees (a 2.67 percent change).
Major cargo airlines are operating with more employees though, with Federal Express having added 20,630 jobs since March of last year. However, cargo airline employment fell 1,288 workers between July and August. Kalitta Air saw an almost 16 percent growth in employment, from 2,013 employees to 2,334; while Polar Air Cargo saw a 5.75 percent increase from 226 to 239. United Parcel Service grew from 6,279 employees to 6,638 employees (a 5.72 percent change).