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Air Transportation: NAICS 481

About the Air Transportation subsector

The air transportation subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Air Transportation subsector provide air transportation of passengers and/or cargo using aircraft, such as airplanes and helicopters. The subsector distinguishes scheduled from nonscheduled air transportation. Scheduled air carriers fly regular routes on regular schedules and operate even if flights are only partially loaded. Nonscheduled carriers often operate during nonpeak time slots at busy airports. These establishments have more flexibility with respect to choice of airport, hours of operation, load factors, and similar operational characteristics. Nonscheduled carriers provide chartered air transportation of passengers, cargo, or specialty flying services. Specialty flying services establishments use general-purpose aircraft to provide a variety of specialized flying services.

North American Industry Classification System

The air transportation subsector consists of these industry groups:

Scheduled Air Transportation: NAICS 4811
Nonscheduled Air Transportation: NAICS 4812

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in air transportation. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	576.9	575.6	(p)574.4	(p)574.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians	33,290
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	80,650
Cargo and freight agents	10,480
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	71,150

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for air transportation.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings

Recent hourly and annual earnings for occupations commonly found in air transportation.

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians	$41.51	$44.46	$86,340	$92,480
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	(1)-$	(1)-$	$230,870	$256,830
Cargo and freight agents	$21.81	$24.41	$45,360	$50,770
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	$21.98	$24.26	$45,710	$50,460
Footnotes (1) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in air transportation. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2019	2020	2021	2022
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	34	23	23	22
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Data series	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	6.3
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	5.4
Cases involving days away from work	4.0
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.5
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction. The import price index reflects the percentage change in prices paid to foreign producers for their goods and services within the U.S., while the export price index measures the percentage change in prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services sold outside the U.S.


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Producer price index	(p)257.986	(p)251.132	(p)269.269	(p)258.243
Percent change from previous month	(p)-3.0%	(p)-2.7%	(p)7.2%	(p)-4.1%
Import index	153.8	175.2	182.1	173.3
Percent change from previous month	-12.4%	13.9%	3.9%	-4.8%
Export index	180.6	178.0	179.2	177.7
Percent change from previous month	-8.1%	-1.4%	0.7%	-0.8%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in air transportation. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	7,359	7,504	(p)7,649	(p)7,778
Local government	5	5	(p)5	(p)5
State government	1	1	(p)1	(p)1
Federal government	3	3	(p)3	(p)3
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total factor productivity (TFP)	-47.8	45.7	14.4	3.4
Output	-60.1	70.4	33.4	12.4
Combined inputs	-23.6	16.9	16.6	8.8
Capital input	-1.7	-2.3	-0.1	1.7
Labor input	-14.1	12.5	14.6	14.5
Labor productivity, output per hour	-53.5	53.4	16.5	-2.8

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: December 13, 2024