Summary
- The aviation industry has seen a major increase in employment, with over 8% more staff in July 2023 in comparison with July 2019, including each passenger and cargo airlines.
- Job growth within the industry has been consistent for 27 consecutive months, indicating a powerful recovery and surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
- Low-cost carrier Southwest has led in job growth, while cargo airlines experienced a decline in employment, with FedEx reducing its workforce by 687 jobs in July 2023.
Based on recent statistics from the Bureau of Transportation, the aviation industry has a complete of 803,893 staff as of July 2023, representing a rise of over 8% from the identical point in July 2019. Notably, this number includes employees of each passenger and cargo airlines.
Overall, there are 60,853 more staff within the industry as of July 2023 than there have been in July 2019, as measured by payroll data across the middle of the month. Prior to COVID-19 in 2023, the Department of Transportation reported that the business aviation industry employed 743,040 individuals.
Diving into the information
Beyond the report’s primary finding of a rise in employment throughout the industry, there are a number of other insights to be gathered from the information. Notably, the industry continues to grow at a formidable rate even now, with 2,058 jobs added between June and July 2023 alone.
July 2023 marks the twenty seventh straight month of job growth throughout the aviation industry, a streak dating all the way in which back to May of 2021. Some positive employment statistics were to be expected within the immediate wake of the pandemic shutdown, as airlines had to start re-hiring after pandemic downsizing and cost-cutting. Nonetheless, carriers proceed so as to add routes and hire more staff, a powerful signal that aviation has not only returned post-pandemic, but is growing beyond pre-pandemic levels.
The report also points to low-cost carrier Southwest as a pacesetter in job growth, having added a complete of 1,188 employees between June and July of this yr alone. Full-service network carriers United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were also noted for adding employees, with 927 and 545 recent hires, respectively.
Photo: Jeramey Lende | Shutterstock
Notably, cargo airlines experienced weaker employment statistics during July 2023, with 695 jobs lost over the previous month. Cargo airlines employed 270,963 staff in July 2023, accounting for a complete of 34% of employment in business aviation. The biggest employer within the air freight sector, FedEx, decreased its workforce by 687 jobs. The air freight sector expanded greatly in the course of the pandemic when demand for cargo increased massively, driving industry growth.
An even bigger picture
Across the board, the last two years have demonstrated certainly one of the biggest surges in employment throughout the US business aviation industry because the decline within the wake of the September eleventh terror attacks. After falling for a lot of the 2000s, employment by passenger airlines mostly leveled out before starting to rise until the last years of the 2010s.
Photo: Department of Transportation
Today, passenger aviation accounts for just over 500,000 jobs, the best it has been since 2001. At its peak, employment by US scheduled passenger airlines reached 537,000 in 2001. At current growth rates, employment levels throughout the business aviation industry could reach record highs throughout the coming years.