United States cargo and passenger airlines saw job losses increase by 2.6% between November and December of 2025, with air cargo carriers alone losing an estimated 29,185 workers.
According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics on February 10, total airline employment fell by 27,659 jobs month over month combined between part-time and full-time roles, dropping to 1.04 million workers in December. The bulk of those losses came from the cargo sector, where employment declined by 29,185 positions, driven almost entirely by FedEx losing 29,113 roles. In contrast, passenger airlines added roughly 1,600 jobs over the same period.
On a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis, airlines collectively lost 15,321 FTE jobs in December. Cargo carriers accounted for nearly all of that decline with a 4.3% month-to-month dip, while passenger airlines posted a modest 0.3% increase in FTE employment.
Despite the job losses seen by cargo carriers, global air cargo demand rose by 3.3% year-over-year in 2025, according to the International Air Transport Association, while air cargo traffic is expected to grow in nearly every region in 2026, excepting North America and the Middle East. Last year’s success was largely driven by air cargo acting as a backstop for the sudden and frequent changes to global trade policies that occurred throughout 2025, the IATA noted.Â
“Air cargo came to everybody’s rescue as a critical enabler of rapid adaptation, ensuring that goods arrived ahead of announced tariff deadlines and facilitating the swift rerouting of China’s exports to alternative markets,” the IATA explained in a December 2025 report.
