WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2021) Full-time employment at 17 leading US passenger airlines rose by 13,000 from mid-November, mid-December, the US Department of Transportation said on Thursday.
"The 17 US scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.4% more full-time equivalents (FTEs) in mid-December 2020 than in mid-November 2020. Mid-December's total number of FTEs (379,302) was up 12,552 from mid-November (366,750 FTEs), the Department of Transportation said in a press release said.
The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying travel restrictions have forced US airlines to trim schedules and lay off employees, a trend somewhat mitigated by billions of Dollars in Federal aid conditioned on airlines continuing to fly, even if planes are mostly empty.
Despite increased employment, December 2020 had the fewest number of full-time workers for any December since Department of Transportation began collecting monthly reports in 1990.
Earlier this week, Department of Transportation reported that US airlines carried 60 percent fewer passengers than in 2019, the year before the pandemic.
