Air Transportation: NAICS 481

About the Air Transportation subsector

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

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	May 2012	Jun. 2012	Jul. 2012	Aug. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		458.2	458.7	(P) 458.6	(P) 457.1
Layoffs
Mass layoff events		-	(1) -	3	3
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits		-	(1) -	273	150
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	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012
Extended mass layoff events		(1) -	4	(1) (P) -	(1) (P) -
Separations		(1) -	679	(1) (P) -	(1) (P) -
Initial claimants		(1) -	455	(1) (P) -	(1) (P) -
Footnotes (1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2011
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians	35,070
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	59,930
Cargo and freight agents	11,320
Flight attendants
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	83,760

(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, 2011
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians	$27.29	$27.32	$56,770	$56,820
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	(1) $-	(1) $-	$107,040	$118,560
Cargo and freight agents	$17.62	$18.32	$36,640	$38,100
Flight attendants
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	$18.88	$17.15	$39,260	$35,680
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	2008	2009	2010	2011
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	38	28	32	(P) 27
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	8.7	8.5	8.1
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	6.8	6.5	6.3
Cases involving days away from work	4.7	4.6	4.6
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	2.1	1.8	1.7
Footnotes (P) Preliminary
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	Back data	May 2012	Jun. 2012	Jul. 2012	Aug. 2012
Producer price index		(P) 230.1	(P) 232.6	(P) 230.2	(P) 232.6
Percent change from previous month		(P) -1.4%	(P) 1.1%	(P) -1.0%	(P) 1.0%
Import index		181.1	199.8	193.4	182.7
Percent change from previous month		0.6%	10.3%	-3.2%	-5.5%
Export index		198.7	202.8	(R) 212.6	217.5
Percent change from previous month		6.6%	2.1%	(R) 4.8%	(R) 2.3%
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	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012
Number of establishments
Private industry		5,968	5,949	5,940	(P) 5,857
Local government		6	6	6	(P) 6
State government		1	1	1	(P) 1
Federal government		4	4	4	(P) 4
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series	Back data	2007	2008	2009	2010
Labor productivity index, output per hour		142.232	140.539	140.766	150.119
Percent change from previous year		1.3	-1.2	0.2	6.6
Labor index, total labor hours		90.008	88.414	82.557	80.840
Percent change from previous year		1.8	-1.8	-6.6	-2.1
Output index		128.020	124.257	116.213	121.356
Percent change from previous year		3.1	-2.9	-6.5	4.4
Unit labor costs index		70.818	72.529	77.276	76.568
Percent change from previous year		-0.4	2.4	6.5	-0.9

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See air transportation in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: September 27, 2012