U.S. air carriers saw their payrolls slip in November from October, and the figure was down 4.5 percent from a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) says in its latest monthly report.

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.3 percent fewer workers in November 2009 than in November 2008, the 17th consecutive decrease in the full-time work force from the same month of the previous year. The November total of 379,400 for the scheduled passenger carriers was 12,800 below November 2008 and the lowest total for any month since 1993.

Six of the seven network airlines decreased employment from November 2008 to November 2009.  Delta Air Lines, which is completing its merger with Northwest Airlines, was the lone network carrier to increase employment. Low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines also reported decreases from November 2008. Regional carriers American Eagle Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Comair, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, Horizon Air, Mesa Airlines, Air Wisconsin Airlines, Mesaba Airlines, PSA Airlines and Colgan Airlines also reported reduced employment levels compared to last year.

The seven network airlines employed 258,100 workers in November, 68 percent of the passenger airline total, while low-cost carriers employed 16.5 percent and regional carriers employed 14 percent.

American Airlines employed the most workers in November among the network airlines, Southwest employed the most among low-cost airlines, and American Eagle had the largest payroll among regional airlines.

Payroll at the seven network airlines decreased 2.7 percent in November 2009 compared to November 2008, the 15th consecutive monthly decrease from the same month of the previous year.

The number of low-cost airline workers decreased 0.1 percent in November from November 2008. The decrease was the fourth following five months of increases

Four low-cost airlines reported year-to-year increases: Allegiant Air, 15.4 percent; Virgin America, 12.9 percent; AirTran Airways, 6.5 percent; and JetBlue Airways, 4.3 percent.  Southwest, Spirit and Frontier reported year-to-year decreases.

Regional airline payroll was down 7.5 percent in November 2009 compared to November 2008, the 15th consecutive month with a decline from the same month of the previous year

Comair, down 49.7 percent, and Mesaba, down 35.8 percent, reported the largest decreases in the regional group. Republic Airlines, up 101.3 percent; and GoJet Airlines, up 43.6 percent, reported the largest increases in the group.

Ramon Lopez also serves as editor-in-chief of Air Safety Week; he has been covering air safety for more than three decades (rlopez@accessintel.com).

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