Volume
7
Issue
3
Abstract
A wide variety of estimates of aviation industry employment data exist today. For example, a range of estimates from a low of 750,000 to a high of 2.1 million are reported in various industry publications and journals. This broad range raises questions not onIy about such data but also about the definition used to define the industry and thus used to arrive at employment numbers. In this paper, an overall 1995 aviation industry employment estimate is presented that is based on various secondary sources. The estimate incorporates various components of the civil aviation industry, including aircraft/aerospace manufacturing, airlines, general aviation, government aviation, and miscellaneous aviation industry employment. Active duty military personnel are a significant contributor to aviation employment. Although they are not included in previous assessments of overall civil aviation employment, they have been included in this work. One article (NewMyer, 1985) estimated aviation employment at 2,286,709. This new assessment indicates an industry increase of 62,290 employees to a total population of 2,349,399. Data collection for this new computation was obtained through replication of the methodology producing the 1985 statistics. The primary contributing factor to overall aviation industry employment increases in 1995 is the fact that there were net increases in four of the six components of the aviation industry (aviation/aerospace manufacturing, airlines, general aviation, government aviation, miscellaneous, and active duty military aviation personnel). It is concluded, however, that without the miscellaneous employment category contribution to employment statistics, there is actually a decline in industry employment over the 10-year period. Contributing to this descent have been large personnel reductions in the defense-related aircraft/aerospace manufacturing industry and active duty military aviation components.
Scholarly Commons Citation
NewMyer, D. A.,
Kaps, R. W.,
& Sharp, S. E.
(1997).
Aviation Industry Employment Data Estimates Revisited.
Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 7(3).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15394/jaaer.1997.1196
