Employment at Commercial Service Airports in the USA: Survey Results

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the size and scope of employment at US commercial service airports (CSAs) by: (1) determining the number of full-time and part-time employees employed directly by the operating entities of CSAs; (2) determining the total number of employees employed at these CSAs, including those working not only for airport operators, but also for airport tenants; and (3) comparing the findings to figures found in literature. A literature review was conducted, and all 510 US CSAs were contacted by phone and/or mail and asked to complete a five-question survey. A response rate of 95.1% (n = 485) was obtained. Survey results indicate there are 45,067 full-time and 2,558 part-time employees directly employed by commercial service airport operators. Additionally, when airport tenants are taken into account, survey results indicate 1,154,660 people are employed at CSAs. This study provides more detailed airport employment data than that which is available in current sources, such as the US Department of Labor. It also provides a larger sample size and more comprehensive analysis than previous recent studies, such as the one reported in the November/December issue of Airport Magazine.