Table 3. Straight-time hourly earnings of full-time selected maintenance and related occupations, large certift-

cated airlines, March 1995
Occupation Number of workers | Mean eamings Median eamings
All carriers’

2,021 $12.53 $14.20

2,724 22.28 23.20

A698 20.93 221

24,942 15.10 16.49

2,462 22.84 23.29

32,065 21.32 22.15

23,947 15.30 16.49

122 10.00 9.40

162 17.48 17.80

893 14.82 14.60

1 Includes data for national carriers that do not meet
Criteria for separate publication.

‘Table 4. Employment change, large certificated alriines, September 1980 to March 1995

Employment Percentage

1980" 19967 9

13,678 23,598 725

12,435, 20,356 63.7

8,606 5,407 37.2

45,959 78,020 69.8

15,087 14,313 62

24,555 29,232 19.0

8,038 3,252 69.5

6,719 2,021 69.9

2,220 2,724 22.7

37,058 4,698 64

20,909 (24,942 19.3
1 Includes employees based in the contiguous 48 states 2 Includes employees based in the 50 states and the
‘and the District of Columbia. Excludes air carriers employ- District of Columbia. Exciudes air carriers employing fewer

ing fewer than 500 workers. than 100 workers.

15 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996



Table 6. Selected benefits offered to Inflight personnel, large certificated alr carriers, March 1995

Allcarriers* Majors carriers: Regional carriers
Benefit item .
Pilots and Flight Pilots and Flight Pilots and Flight
flight engineers | attendants | flightengineers| attendants | fight engineers | attendants
Paid holidays
Percent of workers receiving
paid holidays... 25 28 19 27 78 66
72 87 77 91 68 68
99 99 100 100 89 a
Median? amount of pay (in days)
after the following years of service:
1 year 12 12 12 12 10 10
5 years . 18 18 2 18 12 12
10 years a 18 21 19 12 12
24 24 28 24 12 12
2B Ki 35 30 12 12
Ku 42 35 42 12 12
insurance, health, and retirement
plans
Percent of workers offered:
Life insurance ... 100 100 100 100 100 100
Hospitalization, surgi
medical insurance 100 100 100 100 100 100
Dental care .... 97 J 100 100 89 84
Retirement benefits .. 96 98 100 100 2B 18
Defined benefit ... 70 92 78 100 16 -
Defined contribution 89 79 94 79 28 18

1 Includes data for national carriers that do not meet criteria for

separate publication,

2 The median number of days provided to all covered workers.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported.

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

18



‘Table 1. Gross monthly earnings of full-time Inflight personnel, large certificated alrlines, March 1995

Occupation Number of workers | Mean eamings Median eamings:
All carriers’
23,598 $10,706 $10,951
20,356 6,059 5,991
6,407 4,296 4,142
78,020 2,469 2,403
20,406 11,495 11,744
17,513 6,546 6,247
3,910 4,524 4,335
71,583 2,543 2,540
Regional carriers.
Captains .. 904 4,459 3,600
First officers/copilots 527 3,419 2,650
Second officers/iight engineers 205 4,097 3,801
Flight attendants .. 1,155 1,357 1,400

* Includes data for national carriers that do not meet criteria for

separate

Table 2. Stralght-time weekly earnings of full-time selected customer service occupations, large certificated alr

carriers, March 1995,
Occupation Number of workers | Mean eamings Median earings:
All carriers’
Passenger service agents .. 14,313 $570 $647
Reservation sales agents 29,232 467 462
Ticket agents ... 3,252 511 528
Major carriers
Passenger service agents .. 13,661 579 679
Reservation sales agents 27,502 476 478
Ticket agents 1,971 649 701
Regional carriers
Reservation sales agents ... 1,092 295 260

* Includes data for national carriers that do not meet criteria for

separate publication.

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

14



major carriers than in regional
carriers.

Retirement plans were provided
to nearly all workers employed in
major airlines, but fewer than one-
third of all workers in regional
carriers. The majority of workers in
major airlines were offered a defined
benefit plan entirely employer
financed and a defined contribution
plan which was jointly financed by
employers and employees. A
minority of workers in regional
carriers were offered only a defined
contribution plan jointly financed by
employer and employees.

More than nine-tenths of the
pilots and flight engineers were
covered by labor-management
agreements in March 1995. Among
other occupational groups, about
three-fourths of flight attendants,
two-thirds of maintenance and
related workers, and less than a
tenth of customer service employees
were covered by such agreements.

Conclusion

The airline industry is one of the
largest and highest paying industries
in the United States. Since deregu-
lation, the number of carriers and
employees has expanded rapidly.
While employment grew rapidly for
inflight personnel such as captains,
copilots, and flight attendants, the
number of ground personnel has
grown more slowly or decreased.
And, although earnings in the
airline industry have not kept pace

' The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 1996, p 1.

2 FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation,
1993, Federal Aviation Administration, pp. 6-9
and FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1989,
Federal Aviation Administration, pp. 6-9.

3 Productivity Measures for Selected Indus-
tries and Government Services, Bulletin 2480,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1996.

* Productivity and Costs, First Quarter 1996,
Press release, USDL 96-236, U.S. Department of
Labor, June 18, 1996, See also Productivity Mea-
sures for Selected Industries and Government
Services, Bulletin 2461, Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, May 1995, p. 80.

5 Occupational Compensation Survey: Pay
and Benefits, Certificated Air Carriers, March
1995, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September

with pay increases for the private
sector as a whole since 1980, it
remains among the highest paid
industries in the country.

Technical note

The survey of large certificated
air carriers was conducted on a
sample basis using information
obtained from the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). The survey
included those carriers holding a
certificate issued under Section 401
of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958.
Large certificated air carriers are
defined by the FAA as “airlines
operating aircraft designed to have a
maximum passenger seating capacity
of 60 seats or more or a maximum
payload capacity of 18,000 pounds
or more."" BLS included carriers
employing more than 100 workers
and providing air transportation of
passengers and air delivery of
addressed letters, parcels, and
packages, with the exception of the
U.S. Postal Service. Also excluded
from the survey were helicopter
services, foreign flag carriers, and
employees of U.S. companies based
outside the United States.

Large certificated air carriers are
classified by the FAA based on
annual revenue as follows: Major
carriers, over $1 billion; national
carriers, $100 million to $1 billion;
and regional carriers, under $100
million. Major carriers dominate the

—Endnotes—

1995; Industry Wage Survey: Certificated Air
Carriers, January 1989, Bulletin 2356, Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics, March 1990; Indus-
try Wage Survey: Certificated Air Carriers,
June 1984, Builetin 2214, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, August 1985; and Industry Wage
Survey: Certificated Air Carriers, September
1980, Bulletin 2129, Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, June 1982.

§ Occupational Compensation Survey: Pay
and Benefits, Certificated Air Carriers, March
1995, p. 2.

7 Classification of workers was based on a
uniform set of job descriptions designed to take
account of interestablishment variations in duties
within the same job. The job descriptions used in
this survey are available upon request. Only full-

industry, employing 90 percent of its
workers,

There were a variety of aircraft
operated by the large carriers.
Among the major carriers, two-
thirds of the aircraft operated were
two-engine turbojets, with nearly all
being Boeing B737, Boeing B757,
Boeing B767, or Douglas DC9/
MD88 aircraft. Over one-quarter of
the aircraft were three-engine
turbojets, primarily Boeing B727
and Douglas DC10/MD11 planes.
Only 5 percent were four-engine
turbojets, nearly all either Boeing
B747 or Douglas DC8 aircraft.
Regional carriers, in addition to
operating turbojet aircraft, also flew
a variety of 2-engine and 4-engine
turboprop planes.?

The March 1995 survey of large
certificated air carriers, was con-
ducted under contract for the
Employment Standards Administra-
tion (ESA) of the U.S. Department
of Labor for use in administering the
Service Contract Act of 1965. The
legislation requires the Secretary of
Labor to establish minimum rates of
pay for establishments providing
services valued at more than $2,500
to the Federal Government. BLS
conducts cross-industry surveys of
more than 120 areas, as well as other
special industry studies for ESA.

For additional information on this
survey contact the Division of
Compensation Data Analysis and
Planning, 2 Massachusetts Avenue,
NE, Washington, D.C. 20212-000.
Telephone (202) 606-6220.

time workers were included in the survey of large
certificated carriers.

* Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1996-97
Edition, Bulletin 2470, Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, February 1996, p. 217.

° Occupational Outlook Handbook., p. 325.

*° Health plans include hospitalization, sur-
gical, and medical insurance plans (HSM’s) which
Provide, at a minimum, partial payment for: Hos-
pital room charges; inpatient surgery; and doctors’
fees for hospital, office, or home visits. HSM’s
typically cover other expenses, such as outpatient
surgery and prescription drugs.

1 FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation,
1933, Federal Aviation Administration, p. 6-1.

” FAA Statistical Handbook, pp. 5-4, 5-10,
$-11, and 5-12,

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 16



Occupational Wages
and Employee
Benefits in the
Airline Industry BY ROBERT W. VAN GIEZEN

BLS survey of large certificated air carriers showed an industry that had high-

f

paying occupations, but also a wide dispersion of compensation—earnings as

A well as benefits—between major and regional carriers.

Gross monthly pay for airline
pilots averaged nearly $11,000 in
March 1995, according to the survey.
Gross monthly pay averaged $6,059
for first officers/copilots and $4,296
for second officers/flight engineers.
In contrast, flight attendants, the
most populous occupation with over
78,000 workers, averaged $2,469.
The wide dispersion of pay for
inflight personnel reflects such
factors as base salaries, number of
credited flight hours, type of aircraft,
and carrier revenue classification.

Among customer service person-
nel, straight-time weekly pay of
reservation sales agents averaged
$467, passenger service agents $570,
and ticket agents $511. The average
straight-time hourly pay of mainte-
nance occupations ranged from
$12.53 for aircraft cleaners to $22.28
for aircraft inspectors. The two most
populous maintenance jobs, aircraft
mechanics and ground/ramp service
helpers, averaged $20.93 and $15.10
per hour, respectively.

Robert W. Van Giezen is an economist in the
Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Plan-
‘ning, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telephone (202)
606-6205.

The industry since deregula-
tion

Between 1980 and 1995, a period
marked by major changes in the
structure of the airline industry, the
Bureau conducted four occupational
surveys of airlines. Many of the
effects of changes in the industry are
reflected in pay and employment
patterns,

The Airline Deregulation Act of
1978 opened up new routes and
services and spawned new airlines,
During the past decade, the structure
of the industry has continued to
change through the restructuring,
mergers, acquisitions, closing of
operations, rerouting of passenger
services, the continued creation of
carriers, and the relocation of
operations and maintenance facili-
ties. In 2 years—1994-95—22 new
carriers were certificated by the
Department of Transportation.’ In
some cases, established carriers
underwent drastic changes—selling
selected portions of their routes,
becoming employee-owned carriers,
contracting out some services, or
obtaining concessions from labor
organizations.

Throughout this tumultuous era,
air travel grew rapidly. In 1993,

11 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

domestic passengers flew over 350
billion miles, an increase of 76
percent from 1980. Similarly,
operating revenue for domestic
operations, including passenger,
mail, and freight operations rose 138
percent, from $26.4 billion in 1980
to $62.8 billion in 1993.

During the period, airline fares,
as tracked by the Bureau's Consumer
Price Index, increased dramatically.
From September 1980 to March
1995, fares rose more than 150
percent, much more rapidly than
employee earnings. Although
airline fares have risen rapidly over
this nearly 15-year span, the most
dramatic increase occurred from
September 1980 to September 1984,
when airline fares rose 45 percent.
During the four years ending March
1995, airline fares increased only 15
percent.

The Bureau’s series on productiv-
ity, which measures the output per
hour in goods and services produced
per hour of labor, rose 49 percent for
the air transportation industry from
1980 through 1994, the last year
data are available.’ This compares
with a rise of 17 percent in the
output per hour for all nonfarm
business from 1980 through 1994.*



Table 5. Selected benefits offered to ground personnel, large certificated alr carriers, March 1995

Allcarriers' Major carriers Regional carriers
Benefit item Customer | Maintenance | Customer | Maintenance | Customer | Maintenance
service workers service workers service workers
Pald holidays
Percent of workers:
receiving paid holidays ... ee ra) 99 69 100 at 91
Average number of paid holidays:
where provided ..... ee 93 95 9.6 97 7A 69
Paid vacation policy
100 100 100 100 100 100
1 year .. 10 10 10 10 10 10
15 15 15 15 12 15
20 20 20 20 12 18
20 20 20 20 12 20
3 ry 25 2 12 20
30 xn 30 xn 12 20
Insurance, health, and retirement
plans
Percent of workers offered:
Life insurance 100 100 100 100 100 100
Hospitalization, surgical, and
400 100 100 100 100 100
87 93 88 94 81 91
92 88 96 92 2 1
60 87 64 92 - -
80 60 83 61 r 3 1

+ Includes data for national carriers that do not meet criteria for

separate publication.

17 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

2 The median number of days provided to all covered workers.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported.



Much of the productivity gains in the
air transportation industry were
realized through the introduction of
larger two-engine planes requiring
fewer personnel to fly and maintain
the aircraft, more centralized repair
and reservation systems which
improved efficiency, and more
sophisticated flight schedule plans
which emphasized “hub” sites to
maximize passengers and minimize
empty seats per flight.

BLS conducted occupational
wage surveys of the large certificated
air carrier industry in 1980, 1984,
1989, and 1995.5 From September
1980 to March 1995, the earnings of
the most populous inflight occupa-
tions—captains and flight atten-
dants—rose 56 percent. Earnings of
reservation sales agents rose 28
percent. Among ground personnel,
earnings rose 68 percent for aircraft
mechanics and 41 percent for
ground/ramp service helpers.
However, increases in earnings for
workers in the airline industry
Jagged behind the 83 percent
increase in wages and salaries of all
private industry workers as mea-
sured by the Bureau’s Employment
Cost Index during this period. (See
chart 1.)

Occupations and earnings in
1995

As a whole, captains earned an
average of $10,706 per month, with
those working for major airlines
averaging $11,495 and those
working for regional ones $4,459, a
difference of more than 157 percent.®
(See table 1.) First officers/copilots
earned $6,546 at major carriers and
$3,419 at regional ones. Earnings
for flight attendants averaged $2,469
per month, ranging from $1,357 for
those working for regional carriers
to $2,543 for those at major carriers.
Pay differences were approximately
90 percent between major and
tegional carriers for flight attendants
and first officers. The 10-percent
dispersion in earnings between
second officers/flight engineers

working at major and regional
carriers was the narrowest among
the inflight occupations.

Average earnings among regional
carriers, at $4,097 per month, were
higher for flight engineers than for
first officers/copilots, who averaged
$3,419. This inverse relationship
Teflects factors such as a high degree
of seniority among flight engi-
neers, whose functions are being
eliminated on newer larger
aircraft, as well as differences in
the type of aircraft being flown by
regional carriers. (See the follow-
ing box.)

Pay for Inflight Personnel

Gross monthly earnings for
inflight personnel include base
pay, overtime or incentive pay,
and all other pay directly related
to duty. Included in pay were
credited flight hours which are
actual flight hours (block-to-block
time) and flight-hour equivalents
for nonflying and deadheading
time. Block-to-block refers to the
time period starting when blocks
are removed from aircraft wheels
prior to takeoff and ending when
blocks are placed under the
wheels after landing. Deadhead-
ing refers to flight time without
cargo or passengers. Flight-hour
equivalents are determined by
applying a specified ratio to
nonflying and deadheading time
to translate it into fractions or
whole hours of flight time.

Some inflight personnel were
paid a fixed base salary, others
were compensated by receiving a
base pay for a minimum number
of flight hours plus an additional
amount for every hour flown. For
flight attendants, earnings also
include premium pay received
while serving as first, lead, or
senior attendant. Excluded from
earnings were special allowances
for room and board while inflight
personnel were away from their
home stations.

Workers at major air carriers,
accounting for over nine-tenths of all
customer service and maintenance
employees covered by the survey,
nearly always averaged more than
their counterparts in regional
carriers. Among customer service
occupations in major airlines for
which straight-time weekly earnings
were tabulated, ticket agents earned
$649, passenger service agents $579,
and reservation sales agents, the
most populous job, averaged $476
per week. (See table 2.) However,
the only occupation between major
and regional carriers which allows
comparison (because of publication
criteria) is reservation sales agent.
Workers in that occupation averaged
$295 per week at regional carriers,
slightly more than 60 percent of the
earnings of their counterparts at
major carriers,

Average straight-time hourly
earnings for maintenance and
related occupations in major air
carriers ranged from $15.30 for
ground/ramp service helpers who
service the aircraft prior to flight, to
$22.84 for aircraft inspectors, who
insure that aircraft repairs have been
made according to specifications and
certify the airworthiness of the craft.
(See table 3.) The most populous
job, aircraft mechanics, averaged
$21.32 per hour at major airlines
and $14.82 per hour at regional
carriers, a 44-percent pay differ-
ence.’

Employment changes
Employment growth has been
uneven among the occupations in the
industry based on data from BLS
Occupational Wage Surveys in 1980
and 1995, reflecting the changes
airlines have undergone to remain
competitive. (See table 4.) Employ-
ment gains for captains, first
officers, and flight attendants
exceeded the industry average (11
percent). However, employment of
flight engineers, dropped by over 37
percent as the introduction of
computerized flight navigation
systems eliminated the need for them

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 12



Percent increase

Chart 1. Wage Increases, large certificated air carriers, September 1980 to March 1995,

100

80

60

40

20

All
private
industry

Captains Flight

attendants

Aircraft
mechanics

Ground/ramp
service
workers

in many aircraft. Employment
growth of pilots and first officers
was slowed somewhat by the
introduction of larger planes which
carried more passengers or cargo.
Employment of flight attendants
grew by nearly 70 percent between
1980 and 1995, in tandem with
incteased passenger travel and FAA
tegulations, which require 1 flight
attendant for every 50 seats.”

Employment of ground personnel
either decreased or grew much
slower than that of inflight person-
nel. Among customer service
occupations, only reservation sales
agents, who primarily accept
reservations and answer inquiries on
fares, schedules, connecting flights,
and other facets of travel by tele-
phone, had more employees in 1995
than in 1980. Ticket agents, who
work at airport counters and in
offices selling tickets directly to
customers, dropped by 60 percent as
more travelers made their reserva-
tions by telephone.

Among blue-collar ground
occupations, employment dropped
nearly 70 percent for aircraft
cleaners, as airlines contracted out
much of this work. Employment for

aircraft mechanics dropped slightly,
as growth was limited by increases
in productivity resulting from
greater use of automated inventory
control and modular systems that
speed repairs and parts replacement,
and the replacement of three and
four-engine turbojets with two-
engine aircraft. Aircraft inspectors
and ground/ramp service helpers
enjoyed modest employment growth.

Employee benefits

Paid holidays were given to 7 of
10 customer service and nearly all
maintenance and related workers
and averaged a little less than 10
days per year for those receiving the
benefit. (See table 5.) Only slightly
more than one-fourth of pilots and
flight engineers and flight attendants
were granted paid holidays. Pilots
and flight engineers averaged 7 days
per year, and flight attendants, 9
days. (See table 6.) Approximately
one-fifth of pilots and one-fourth of
flight attendants in major air carriers
teceived paid holiday compared with
over three-fourths of pilots and
nearly two-thirds of flight attendants
in regional carriers. Although the
incidence of paid holidays was

13 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

greater among regional carriers, in
all occupations studied except
maintenance workers, regional
carriers typically provided fewer
days than major carriers.

Paid vacations after qualifying
periods of service were provided to
nearly all workers included in the
study. Provisions varied widely, but
averaged 10 to 12 days after 1 year
of service, 15 to 18 days after 5
years, 18 to 21 days after 10 years,
20 to 24 days after 15 years, and 25
to 30 days after 20 years for all
occupational groups. Vacation
provisions were more generous in
major than regional carriers,
especially after longer periods of
service,

Life, health, and dental insurance
were offered to nearly all workers.”
Life insurance was wholly employer
financed for workers in major
airlines and between 81 to 91
percent of workers in regional
carriers. Except for customer service
workers, a majority of employees
were offered health and dental
insurance plans wholly financed by
their employer. Where the incidence
of these plans varied by type of
carrier, it was generally higher in