It’s a good time to look into employment in the airline industry.
Last month, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported the U.S. airline industry’s employee ranks in May 2017 grew by 3.6 percent over May 2016. This marks the 43rd straight month of recorded monthly employment gains over the same period in the previous year.
Four carriers identified as network airlines — Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — saw growth of 2.4 percent May 2016–May 2017, but the five-year growth stands at 8.1 percent. The largest airline, American, saw 11.9 percent growth over five years, while second place United grew just 0.4 percent in the same period.
Delta is in third place with a 9.6 percent growth in five years, while Alaska’s 28.3 percent growth is staggering.
A large part of the overall industry growth is attributed to the expansion of low-fare travel, with discount carriers Frontier and Spirit seeing employment numbers grow by 8.3 percent over May 2016 and 27.3 percent in five years.
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