America’s airports are economic engines, fostering thousands of jobs in communities of all sizes across the country and helping commerce and tourism thrive. Airports provide ladders of opportunity for communities to revitalize neighborhoods and connect to essential services and jobs.

Opportunity soars at our nation's airports. Commercial airports support 9.6 million jobs and $358 billion in wages. Those jobs include everything from running and maintaining the airport to the airline ticket counters, the stores, security lines, and more. Airports also support tourism and provide jobs that cater to visitors such as taxi drivers, car rental employees, hotel staff, gas station attendants and the many jobs supporting convention centers. Then there are the basic construction jobs of building and maintaining runways, taxiways, and terminals. 

Some airports are large enough and complex enough to be mini-communities unto themselves. The American airport has evolved considerably since commercial aviation was born 102 years ago when the first paying passenger took a brief flight across Tampa Bay.

Airport or City? Dallas Fort Worth International covers 26.9 square miles, directly employs 60,000 people.

During the last century, air travel and airports have become a fundamental part of our lives. We fly home for the holidays; we fly away on vacation; and we fly across the country for work. More than 756 million passengers board commercial flights in the United States annually. Urgent letters, medical equipment, and fresh cut flowers arrive in aircraft every day. Airports open rural communities to the world and enable us to receive goods from the most remote corners of the world.   

America’s air transportation network is a gateway to the American dream for so many, providing a level playing field and allowing small businesses owned by minorities and women to thrive.

In fact, nearly 25 percent of the revenue generated by the concessions in America’s primary airports comes from small and disadvantaged business owners. Nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs are running businesses in airports nationwide, and in 2014 they generated $2.6 billion in revenue. There is strong participation by these firms at airports across the county, including at George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth International and Denver International Airport.

While these large airports are thriving business centers, on the other end of the scale are nearly 3,000 general aviation airports that are the lifeline of smaller communities. Some of these airports are as simple as a landing strip with a covered shelter.

In Akiachak, Alaska, population 627, residents get mail, food, and access to medical care by airplane. Schoolchildren who want to participate in activities like basketball have to fly to nearby schools to compete, as there are no roads.  In many parts of Alaska the family minivan is a Cessna.

Across the nation, airports are helping break down barriers and providing Americans access to goods and services so we all can live more fulfilling lives.

We have come a long way since the Wright Brothers made history on a sandy hilltop in North Carolina.  Their desire and vision to make flight a reality has spurred others to innovate and create a safe and expansive network of airports where opportunity is cleared for takeoff. 

Eduardo Angeles is FAA Associate Administrator for Airports.