American Airlines Group Inc. disclosed Tuesday that it hired a net 20,700 employees in 2021, but its workforce remained 7.7% below its pre-pandemic 2019 total. According to the air carrier's 2021 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company had about 123,400 active full-time equivalent employees as of Dec. 31, up 20.2% from the 102,700 employees it has at the end of 2020, but down from 133,700 employees at the end of 2019. Meanwhile, salaries, wages and benefits expenses totaled $11.82 billion in 2021, representing 45.3% of passenger revenue, up 5.2% from $11.23 billion, or 77.3% of passenger revenue in 2020. In 2019, salaries, wages and benefits expense totaled $12.61 billion, or 30.0% of passenger revenue. American's stock, which fell 0.9% in morning trading, has lost 9.8% over the past three months, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF has gained 0.9% and the S&P 500 has shed 7.3%.
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