One of the reasons that cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages have remained plentiful is because the U.S. airlines have aggressively cut back their staffs. 54,000 jobs have been lost in the airline industry in just the last two years, equal to 16 percent of its work force.
Since the 9/11 attacks, one in every four U.S. airline job has been eliminated. U.S. airline employment in June was the second lowest in the last 20 years. Surprisingly, annual passenger traffic increased by almost 65 percent over the same period.
Exploding fuel costs followed by a decline in travel demand between 2007 and 2009 because of the recession lead airlines to discontinue flying routes that were not profitable. Passengers have had fewer flights to choose from resulting in more planes flying full. Fewer airline workers and fuller flights have increased stress on flight attendants, pilots and other airline workers.
U.S. airlines turned in their best financial performance in three years in the months between April and June as a result of cutting capacity, flying fewer empty seats, and more people traveling as a result of the economy recovering. This in turn has lead to increased ticket prices.
Airlines have been slow to increase their fleets in response to higher demand. This reluctance has helped their bottom lines and is an indication that increased hiring will be slow at best.
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