U.S. cargo and passenger airlines gained 192 jobs in August 2025

U.S. Airlines: Total Number of Employees (both Full-Time and Part-Time)

U.S. airline industry (passenger and cargo airlines combined) employment increased to 1,022,407 workers in August 2025, 192 (0.02%) more workers than in July 2025 (1,022,215).

U.S. scheduled-service passenger airlines employed 550,052 workers in August 2025, or 54% of the industry-wide total. Passenger airlines lost 1,191 employees in August 2025. Spirit Air Lines led scheduled passenger carriers, adding 824 employees; SkyWest Airlines added 91, and Envoy Air added 75.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 468,050 workers in August 2025, or 46% of the industry-wide total. Cargo carriers gained 1,367 employees in August. FedEx, the leading air cargo employer, increased employment by 1,384 jobs.

Scheduled passenger airlines lost 934 full-time equivalents in August 2025

U.S. Airline Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)

BTS calculates FTEs by dividing the number of part-time employees by 2 and adding that figure to the number of full-time employees. The August 2025 industry-wide numbers include 749,592 full-time and 272,815 part-time workers for a total of 886,000 FTEs, a decrease from July of 76 FTEs (0.01%).

The 25 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reporting data for August 2025 employed 520,474 FTEs, 934 FTEs (0.18%) less than in July 2025. Data by passenger carrier category can be found in the accompanying tables.

U.S. cargo airlines employed 361,317 FTEs in August 2025, up 840 FTEs (0.23%) from July 2025.