US airlines swim in cash but pay disparity remains

Washington

AFTER losing more than US$50 billion in the decade following the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, US airlines have been enjoying some financially robust times of late.

On the front lines, airline employees are reaping billions of dollars in wage and benefit increases, plus profit-sharing plans that spell record payouts amid record income. At almost US$81,000, average airline worker salaries last year were 38 per cent above other US private sector jobs, according to the airlines' trade group, Airlines for America. Carriers' wages rose 29 per cent between 2010 and 2015, more than double the national average.