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, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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477.8 476.8 (P) 475.1 (P) 473.0

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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3 5 (1) - 6

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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267 641 (1) - 353

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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(1) - 16 (P) 18 (P) 8

Separations

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(1) - 6,281 (P) 4,100 (P) 2,050

Initial claimants

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(1) - 4,571 (P) 3,703 (P) 1,150

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Aircraft mechanics and service technicians

32,600

Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers

67,450

Cargo and freight agents

16,690

Flight attendants

99,070

Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks

105,380

(Source: Occupational Employment 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, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Aircraft mechanics and service technicians

$27.63 $27.09 $57,470 $56,360

Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers

(1) $- (1) $- $114,400 $120,840

Cargo and freight agents

$18.31 $18.15 $38,080 $37,740

Flight attendants

(1) $- (1) $- $35,850 $39,790

Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks

$16.71 $16.54 $34,760 $34,400

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 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 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

48 29 51 41

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

10.1 9.9 9.9 9.9

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

7.7 7.5 7.7 7.3

Cases involving days away from work

5.3 5.3 5.4 5.2

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

2.5 2.2 2.2 2.1

(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 Back
data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Producer price index

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(P) 198.0 (P) 197.8 (P) 189.3 (P) 184.9

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) -2.8% (P) -0.1% (P) -4.3% (P) -2.3%

Import index

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157.3 148.5 141.6 134.9

Percent change from previous month

 

-0.2% -5.6% -4.6% -4.7%

Export index

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(R) 164.6 (R) 164.9 (R) 147.5 140.0

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) 3.1% (R) 0.2% (R) -10.6% (R) -5.1%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(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 Back
data
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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6,420 (P) 6,376 (P) 6,387 (P) 6,379

Local government

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6 (P) 6 (P) 6 (P) 6

State government

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1 (P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1

Federal government

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7 (P) 6 (P) 6 (P) 6

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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112.751 126.868 135.513 142.483

Percent change from previous year

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10.4 12.5 6.8 5.1

Labor index, total labor hours

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97.062 96.517 95.137 91.842

Percent change from previous year

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-6.0 -0.6 -1.4 -3.5

Output index

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109.438 122.449 128.923 130.859

Percent change from previous year

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3.8 11.9 5.3 1.5

Unit labor costs index

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111.368 99.072 88.524 85.122

Percent change from previous year

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-7.3 -11.0 -10.6 -3.8

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See air transportation in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: May 01, 2009