Originally Posted by
A6Edriver
Labor costs surpassed fuel as global airlines' biggest single expense in 2016, at 22 percent of costs against just under 21 percent for fuel. That is expected to jump this year to 30.9 percent versus 20.5 percent for fuel.Feb 14, 2018. Reuters
The Qantas Group, for example, has 30,000 staff of which about 3000 are pilots. Their cost relative to the cost of fuel and other expenses has remained relatively constant for many years. What has grown is the number of 'managers' and 'directors' on salaries equivalent to say, a First Officer and it's here that labor costs have grown significantly.