Aviation Employment in the US: A Review of Data Sources

Abstract

The aviation industry—particularly the airline and aviation/aerospace manufacturing segments— has received significant negative attention due to financial and employment losses that it has suffered since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For example, nearly 150,000 jobs have been reported cut at the airlines and aviation/aerospace manufacturers combined. However, there is little said about the overall aviation industry backdrop for these cuts: How large is US aviation industry employment after these publicly announced cuts? The problem addressed by this research was one of finding sources to determine the overall size and scope of aviation industry employment in the US. A literature review was used that examined government documents, scholarly journals, aviation industry journals and information provided by aviation industry associations. In addition, the results of a telephone survey of the top 100 airline-served airports in the US were utilized. The literature review found that US aviation industry employment as of 2002 ranged from 1,870,400 to 2,169,845 depending on the data sources used to arrive at the total. It was also concluded that there are data details not available from the US Department of Labor employment statistics on the aviation industry that are important to determining a conclusive aviation industry employment estimate.