U.S. airline employment to reach lowest levels in decades after pandemic cuts 90,000 jobs

U.S. airlines employment will fall to the lowest since the mid-1980s by the end of 2020, the result of the pandemic’s devastating impact on the sector, an industry group said Thursday.

Airlines will have cut the equivalent of about 90,000 jobs by then, the result of more than 30,000 furloughs at airlines like United and American that began last month and the departure of thousands of other workers that accepted buyouts from Southwest, Delta and other carriers.

Passenger carriers and their employees’ labor unions have repeatedly urged Congress for a second $25 billion federal aid package to preserve jobs through March, but so far Congress and the White House haven’t reached an agreement on a new national coronavirus stimulus package, or aid solely for battered sector.

The industry’s workforce in the fourth quarter will fall to about 370,000 full-time equivalent jobs, from 460,000 in March, according to Airlines for America, a trade group that represents the major U.S. airlines.

Air travel demand has begun to recover from more than five-decade lows hit in April, early in the pandemic, but it remains a fraction of last year’s levels. Since the start of October, the Transportation Security Administration screened 34 million people, down nearly 65% from the 97 million people who went through airport checkpoints during the same time last year.

Thanksgiving will provide only a modest uptick in demand, and airline executives on Thursday highlighted continued challenges facing the business in the pandemic.

Airlines for America said U.S. carriers’ Thanksgiving-week capacity will be down close to 39% from a year ago, compared with a 47% drop in the first two and a half weeks of November.

Southwest on Thursday said a revenue rebound appeared to be losing steam for November and December bookings.

“While the Company expected the election to impact trends, it is unclear whether the softness in booking trends is also a direct result of the recent rise in COVID-19 cases,” Southwest said in a filing “As such, the Company remains cautious in this uncertain revenue environment.” 

Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian noted the optimism following positive results from a Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine trial released earlier this week, news that sent airline stocks soaring, but warned the industry isn’t out of the woods.

“Keep in mind that while developing a vaccine is an important step, widespread distribution will take many months, so we continue to expect 2021 will be a year with continued challenges,” he said in a staff note.