Airline payrolls rose again in October

U.S. airlines in October had more employees on their payrolls than any month since April 2009, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Tuesday. October marked the 11th consecutive month in which the airline industry had more employees on their payrolls than they did in the same month of the previous year. There were 389,444 full-time equivalent employees working for airlines in October, 11,332 more than October 2010, the bureau said. Among major, network airlines, only Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines saw declines in employment from October 2010 to October 2011. On the flip side, Continental Airlines added the largest percentage of employees by far. Continental's payroll grew by 14 percent October to October. The next largest growth percentage was posted by US Airways where the payroll grew by 3.9 percent.