In the labor negotiations during its restructuring and thereafter, the airline industry focused significant attention on total compensation - the total cost to an airline for salary and wages, pension, benefits, payroll taxes and other items affected by terms included in a collective bargaining agreement. In this section the ADP presents labor cost data in terms of total compensation as the determinant of a company's labor costs.

U.S. DOT Form 41 data is used to disaggregate those costs. In the Form 41, pilot costs are reported in conjunction with the relevant aircraft productivity measurements and other data necessary to calculate overall pilot costs and productivity.

Similarly, data filings also are available to measure overall labor costs for flight attendants, maintenance workers and ground employees. It is not possible to perform an accurate calculation for maintenance, engineering and ground costs for those airlines that outsource a significant portion of this work, but the data does show a trend toward increased outsourcing of maintenance work.

Because of differing reporting methods by various airlines, it is also not possible to accurately calculate average salary and benefits for the various classes and crafts of ground and related employees.

As for pension and benefits, the average cost per pilot employee is easily calculated; the results reflect the respective carrier contract negotiations or bankruptcy filings that have driven significant changes to retirement and benefits plans.

While it is more difficult to determine pension and benefit costs for other airline workgroups, the data provides calculations for each carrier reflect the impacts of recent restructuring actions.

NOTE: The labor cost measures presented here are based on data as reported by each airline to the US DOT. Given that different airlines may include different elements of total labor expense in their reports, direct comparisons of total labor remuneration across airlines can be misleading. For example, the inclusion of profit-sharing payments in these data reports can and does differ across airlines.

 
    Total  
Data at a Glance
  Employees & Compensation Charts
  Total Full-time Employee Equivalents

  Total Full-time Employee Non Cockpit Equivalents
  Average Annual Wages and Salaries- All Employees
  Average Annual Wages and Salaries- All Non-Cockpit Employees

  Average Pension and Benefit Package- All Employees
  Average Pension and Benefit Package- All Non-Cockpit Employees
  Pilots  
  Total Pilot and Copilot Employee Equivalents

  Average Annual Wages and Salaries- Pilots and Copilots

  Average Pension and Benefit Package- Pilots & Copilots
  Average Total Pilot Wages & Salaries and Benefits & Payroll Taxes per Pilot Employee Equivalent
  Total Cockpit Cost per Block Hour- All Aircraft
  Total Cockpit Cost per Block Hour- Large Narrowbodies
  Total Cockpit Cost per Block Hour- Small Narrowbodies
  Total Cockpit Cost per Block Hour- Widebodies
    Flight Attendants  
  Total Flight Attendant Employee Equivalents
  Average Annual Wages and Salaries- Flight Attendents
  Ground Staff  
    Total In-House Passenger, Cargo and Aircraft Handling Employee Equivalents
    Average Annual Wages and Salaries- In-house Passenger, Cargo and Aircraft Handling Employees
    Maintenance Staff  
    Total In-House Maintenance Employee Equivalents
    Average Annual Wages and Salaries- Inhouse Maintenance Employee Equivalents
    Management  
    Total Management and Other Employee Equivalents
    Average Annual Wages and Salaries- General Management and Other Personnel

 
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