Air transportation

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Workforce

503k

2019 BLS Estimate

Average Employee Age

Estimated Job Growth

5.86%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$84,065

Average Male Salary

$101,743

Average Female Salary

$96,333

About

The top three occupations in the Air transportation Industry Group are Aircraft pilots & flight engineers, Flight attendants, Reservation & transportation ticket agents & travel clerks, Customer service representatives, and Aircraft mechanics & service technicians. On average, full-time employees in the Air transportation Industry Group work 44.2 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $86,206. Part-time employees in the same industry work 23.6 hours and earn an average annual salary of $75,845.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Air transportation Industry Group are Fayette County PUMA, GA, Flower Mound Town & Highland Village City PUMA, TX, and Coweta County PUMA, GA. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Air transportation.

Photo by SuperJet International

Transportation & Warehousing Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities

Workforce

A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Air transportation Industry Group. Aircraft pilots & flight engineers are the most common position, but the Air transportation Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Flight attendants, compared to other industries.

The highest average salary in Air transportation goes to Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

−1.99%

Year-over-year decline

Employment change between May 2020 and May 2021

As of May 2021, there are 365k people employed in the Air Transportation industry. This represents a −1.99% decrease in employment when compared to May 2020.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Air Transportation over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Occupations

Occupations by Share

503k

Workforce (BLS Estimate)

ACS Estimate: 639k

0.125%

1 Year Growth

± 4.33%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there were 503k people employed in the Air transportation Industry Group in 2019.

According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Air transportation Industry Group has been growing at a rate of 0.125%, , from 638k people in 2018 to 639k people in 2019.

The following graphic shows the share of employment in Air transportation by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Aircraft pilots & flight engineers represent the largest share of positions held in Air transportation at 19.6%, followed by Flight attendants with 18.3% and Reservation & transportation ticket agents & travel clerks with 8.55%.

Wages

Average Salary

$84,065

AVERAGE WAGE

± $2,773

On average, employees in the Air transportation Industry Group make $84,065 per year. This number makes Air transportation the 32 highest paying Industry Group in the United States out of a total of 269 Industry Groups.

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUBLIC USE MICRODATA AREA

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Air transportation Industry Group.

Wage Distribution

0.456

WAGE GINI

Air transportation has a wage GINI of 0.456, which is less than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Air transportation (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

Opportunities

Spatial Concentration

Public Use Microdata Areas with RCA

This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Air transportation Industry Group.

These are locations that employ more people in the Air transportation Industry Group than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Air transportation Industry Group.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Air transportation Industry Group in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $101,743 and $96,333. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.

Composition by Sex

223k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

±11.6k

416k

MALE WORKFORCE

±15.8k

65.1% of workers in the Air transportation Industry Group are Male, making them the more common sex in the workforce. This chart shows the sex breakdown of the Air transportation Industry Group.

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$101,743

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$3,927

$96,333

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$3,859

On average, Male workers in the Air transportation Industry Group make 1.06 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Air transportation Industry Group.

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

RACE OR ETHNICITY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY

American Indian and Alaska Native tribes specified; or American Indian or Alaska Native, not specified and no other races
American Indian
White

On average, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes specified; or American Indian or Alaska Native, not specified and no other races employees in the Air transportation Industry Group earn 1.28 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Air transportation Industry Group.

Input/Output

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Air transportation Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries. Transportation and warehousing has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Air transportation Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Air transportation Industry Group is Manufacturing.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Industrial Flow

The closest comparable data for Air transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Air transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Air transportation Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Transportation and warehousing Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

The closest comparable data for Air transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Manufacturing Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Air transportation Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Air transportation Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Projections

Growth projections of the Air transportation industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 7.66% in the next ten years. The Air transportation industry has a lower projected workforce growth at 5.86%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (20.5%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

Job Growth

5.86%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

7.66%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Air transportation. This industry is expected to grow less than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.