Commercial service airports in the U.S. are indispensable to the U.S. economy, moving people and products across the country and around the world.
In addition to the critical role that airports play in the U.S. transportation network, they also behave as significant economic engines on their own, supporting well-paying jobs and generating economic output that benefits the local, regional, and national economy.
This economic impact study quantifies the economic benefits from U.S. commercial service airports in 2024. These impacts are measured in terms of employment, payroll, and economic output associated with on-airport activities and the spending of visitors that arrive by airline.
The study relies on inputs from statewide and individual airport economic studies for use in an economic model accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government agencies for use in quantifying economic impacts.
The research incorporates more than 80 studies to obtain the data used to show that the 487 commercial service airports in the United States:
- Support 12.8 million jobs.
- Provide $619 billion in annual payroll.
- Produce $1.8 trillion of annual output.
These jobs are tied to the on-airport activity, such as airport operations, ground handling operations, ticket agents, security screening, terminal concessionaire services, and rental car operations. The jobs related to spending by visitors using airlines are found in the hospitality industry, such as hotel and restaurant jobs. Jobs connected to capital improvement projects (CIP) at the airport include engineers, architects, consultants, and construction workers.
This strong evidence stresses the economic importance of airports and how they contribute to the economy. This report looks at the economic environment in which the airports operate, details impacts at the state level, and explains how the study obtained these results.
