Assessing the Economic Sustainability of Airlines in the U.S. Through Labor Efficiency

Dothang Truong ()
Additional contact information
Dothang Truong: School of Graduate Studies (SGS), College of Aviation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-29

Abstract: This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the economic sustainability of U.S. airlines by examining labor efficiency as a pivotal component of cost management and long-term sustainability. Focusing on five key employee categories—pilots, flight attendants, ground staff, maintenance staff, and management—the analysis uses data from the MIT Airline Data Project spanning 2007 to 2020 to calculate relative efficiency scores for fifteen major airlines. The findings reveal significant disparities in labor efficiency across different airline sectors, particularly highlighting challenges in managing cost-intensive roles, such as ground, maintenance, and management staff. Notably, Southwest Airlines consistently demonstrates strong economic sustainability through its efficient labor practices, while carriers including United, jetBlue, Alaska, and Hawaiian Airlines exhibited marked inefficiencies in 2020, indicating a critical need for operational improvements. This research contributes to the field of airline management by linking labor efficiency metrics with broader economic sustainability objectives, thereby offering strategic insights for enhancing cost-effectiveness and ensuring the long-term financial health of the industry.

Keywords: airline economic sustainability; labor efficiency; workforce productivity; operational cost management; data envelopment analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4468/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4468/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4468-:d:1655662

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().