The Workforce AI Index · Industrials
United Airlines (UAL)
An airline read as one pattern. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-12. Ranked 15 of the 28 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
An airline whose filing states a total and a union share and describes one business, so the workforce is read entirely into the scheduled air transportation pattern.
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 17% now, 20% at the end of 2027, 21% at the end of 2028, 21% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 21% desk work, 27% people work and 52% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 79% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 15% becomes checking a model's work and 6% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
113,200 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing does not state a count by country; 83% of employees are represented by U.S. labor organizations.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, UAL, including its subsidiaries, had approximately 113,200 employees, of whom approximately 83% were represented by various U.S. labor organizations.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Air Transportation | 100% | By (c): the filing states one total and a union share and describes one business, a scheduled passenger airline with its flight, ground, maintenance and customer operations, so the whole workforce is read into the scheduled air transportation pattern; no count by group is stated. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 113,200 employees, 83% union-represented; about 13,100 hired in 2025; headcount up by more than 38,000 since 2020 under its growth plan.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Scheduled Air Transportation, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- American Airlines (AAL, 139,100 employees)17% now, 21% by 2028
- Delta Air Lines (DAL, 103,000 employees)17% now, 21% by 2028
- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV, 72,790 employees)17% now, 21% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
8 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing says it depends on technology and automated systems including AI to operate, that such systems 'are becoming increasingly important in our operations over time', and that competitors may adopt AI faster; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “An important part of the Company's strategy to expand its global network and operate an environmentally sustainable, responsible and innovative airline has included making significant investments, both domestically and in other parts of the world, in other airlines and other aviation industry participants, producers of SAF, manufacturers of electric, hybrid and other new generation aircraft, an...”
- “The Company depends on technology and automated systems, including artificial intelligence ("AI"), to operate its business, including, but not limited to, computerized airline reservation systems, electronic tickets, electronic airport kiosks, demand prediction software, flight operations systems, in-flight wireless internet, cloud-based technologies, technical and business operations systems a...”
- “Automated systems and technologies, including AI, are becoming increasingly important in our operations over time.”
- “Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations.”
- “Additionally, if AI is improperly utilized, including if the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing are or are 23 Table of Contents alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased, we would be exposed to new or expanded risks and liabilities related to inaccuracies or errors in the output of such AI applications and our business, reputation, financial cond...”
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 113,200 | 2026-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 107,300 | 2025-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 103,300 | 2024-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 92,800 | 2023-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 84,100 | 2022-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 74,400 | 2021-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 96,000 | 2020-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 92,000 | 2019-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 89,800 | 2018-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 88,000 | 2017-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 84,000 | 2016-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 84,000 | 2015-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 87,000 | 2014-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 88,000 | 2013-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 87,000 | 2012-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 86,000 | 2011-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 47,000 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 50,000 | 2009-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 55,000 | 2008-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 55,000 | 2007-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 57,000 | 2006-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 61,000 | 2005-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 63,000 | 2004-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2003-03-28 | 72,000 | 2003-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2002-03-08 | 102,000 | 2002-03-08 | 10-K405 |
| 2001-03-15 | 102,000 | 2001-03-16 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 100,000 | 2000-03-14 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-12-31 | 95,035 | 1999-03-15 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 91,700 | 1998-03-06 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-31 | 87,628 | 1997-03-05 | 10-K405 |
| 1995-12-31 | 83,929 | 1996-03-08 | 10-K405 |
| 1994-12-31 | 77,900 | 1995-03-08 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by employee group or country is stated; the single pattern follows the description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000100517-26-000023, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Questions about this company
- How much of United Airlines's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 17% now and 21% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce United Airlines's own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does United Airlines employ?
- 113,200 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up United Airlines's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Scheduled Air Transportation; by those patterns the work is about 21% desk work, 27% people work and 52% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does United Airlines's annual report say about AI?
- 8 sentences in the filing name AI. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 1, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.