Summary The US airline industry boasts the highest workforce in over 2 decades, with more than 1 million employees. Air transportation employees earn 39% more than average private sector workers. Globally, airlines are hiring workers across various departments as air travel demand soars.
The airline industry has bounced back strongly around the world following the tricky years of the pandemic, and the latest employment data for the US aviation sector looks quite good. According to Airlines for America, passenger airlines in the country together boast the highest workforce in more than two decades. Largest workforce in nearly 23 years Airlines for America (A4A), a trade organization that represents major US passenger and cargo airlines, has revealed that that country’s airline industry now has a workforce of more than one million people.
This translates into the highest number of people employed by US airlines in the last 23 years. A4A used the most recent data from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to come up with these numbers. Rebecca Spicer, Senior Vice President of Communications at A4A, commented, “These one million men and women are the backbone of our industry, which is why A4A member airlines continue to invest significantly in current and future employees to ensure that we have people trained and in the right places at the right time to accommodate the demand for air travel and shipping.
“We are grateful for our employees’ dedication to getting millions of travelers to their destinations safely and delivering tons of cargo across the country and around the world every single day.” Wages and benefits While the one million mark does seem impressive, how does it translate into employee earnings and other benefits? A4A highlights that in 2022, the wages of air transportation employees were 39% higher than those of the average private sector employee. Some of the benefits included as part of their employment terms were medical, flight, and retirement benefits, as well as job flexibility.
The trade organization said that they represented the “highest wages and most generous benefits in the history of the industry.” To give a larger view of the airline industry's importance to the US economy, the sector supports 10 million jobs and drives 5% of the US GDP, which is equivalent to $1.37 trillion in 2023.
Get all the latest aviation news for North America here. Global trend An uptick in employment is not unique to just US carriers. Globally, many airlines have hired workers across various departments as demand for air travel soars continuously.
In June, Etihad said that it is looking for 1,000 new cabin crew members by year-end and is conducting open days across 19 locations globally, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Athens, Antalya, Malaga, Manchester, Copenhagen, Vienna, Singapore, Nice, Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Milan, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Colombo and Jaipur. In February, it was reported that Emirates was looking for 600 engineers to maintain its fleet of over 260 aircraft globally, with plans to invest $950 million to build an advanced engineering facility in Dubai. British Airways opened its newly qualified pilot pathway (NQPP) program in February this year , which allows new pilots to start their careers at the company.
The carrier is also expanding its fully funded pilot training program in the UK. In January, Virgin Atlantic, too, was hiring cabin crew members on an initial six-month contract, offering a package that included basic salary, trip pay, onboard commission, subsistence allowances, and other variable payments. The airline has opened applications until the end of January.
.
