Delta has 6.2 percent drop in employment

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines had a 6.2 percent drop in employment levels in 2008, while AirTran Airways had a 9.1 percent drop last year, based on the number of full-time equivalent employees tallied in a federal report. Delta and AirTran were two of 17 carriers that had declines in employment in December 2008 compared with December 2007, according to the report released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

U.S. airlines overall had a 6.7 percent drop in employment last year. Delta’s regional subsidiary Comair had a 12.9 percent drop in employment last year, while Atlanta-based Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines had a 1.4 percent increase. Northwest subsidiaries Mesaba and Compass, which Delta gained through its acquisition of Northwest last October, had larger increases in employment in 2008.