economic impact

At the onset of 1937, then-ATA President Edgar S. Gorrell, presciently remarked that "Any medium that reduces the element of time in travel and communication will eventually assume a commanding role in the affairs of men. [D]eveloped in embryo as a Government undertaking…the American air transport industry serves as an indispensable instrument of domestic, overseas, and foreign commerce and social intercourse. Beyond doubt, the scheduled air transport industry has influenced and stimulated many of our other national industries."

On March 29, 1999, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates included the following observations about Orville and Wilbur Wright in a commemorative article for Time Magazine:  "The Wrights created one of the greatest cultural forces since the development of writing, for their invention effectively became the World Wide Web of that era, bringing people, languages, ideas and values together. It also ushered in an age of globalization, as the world's flight paths became the superhighways of an emerging international economy. Those superhighways of the sky not only revolutionized international business; they also opened up isolated economies, carried the cause of democracy around the world and broke down every kind of political barrier. And they set travelers on a path that would eventually lead beyond Earth's atmosphere."

In the summer of 2005, Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin opined, "Every day, the airline industry propels the economic takeoff of our nation. It is the great enabler, knitting together all corners of the country, facilitating the movement of people and goods that is the backbone of economic growth. It also firmly embeds us in that awesome process of globalization that is defining the 21st century." Indeed, the World Bank Web site recognizes that "Air transport has become an essential economic and social conduit throughout the world. Beyond the benefits of fast and inexpensive transcontinental travel, air transport also has become a vital form of shipping for high-valued items that need to come to market quickly, such as agricultural products subject to spoilage." Further, it notes that air cargo has become the essential mode of transportation for high value and perishable goods, wherein 40 percent of all goods by value worldwide are transported by air: "Many developing countries depend heavily on air cargo for their exports as other modes are unreliable or non-existent."

University of North Carolina Professor John D. Kasarda (Director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School) has observed that major airports are essential to U.S. competitiveness and are powerful engines for local economic growth. "Business is a contact sport," Kasarda observes, "and aviation is the physical Internet — it lets people and products physically connect over long distances quickly... It enables the real connectivity. We're talking about what enables the world to be flat." He noted in an October 2008 article that the combined importance of speed, agility and connectivity in today's increasingly fast-paced, globally networked economy are creating a new economic geography "with aviation networks driving and shaping business location and economic development in the 21st century as much as highways did [in] the 20th century, railroads in the 19th, and rivers and seaports in the 18th... The upshot is that route development, business development, and regional economic development go hand-in-hand around the globe."

On May 22, 2008, in a speech to the Aero Club of Washington, former U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne declared that "Our country's vastness and its economy depend upon commercial aviation as the backbone of national and international commerce… Global trade undergirds America’s strength and allows the United States to project its economic power. In my opinion, the commercial aviation industry [is] a crucial component of America’s economic strength. This has been true for decades, and will remain true into the foreseeable future." In August 2008, Moody's Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi remarked that "Aviation is the glue that keeps the global economy together. Without widely accessible and well-priced air travel, the global economy will quickly become less global." Two months later, the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Organization published "The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy," finding that in 2006 commercial aviation was ultimately responsible for 5.2 percent of gross domestic product, helping generate $1.142 trillion in economic activity, $346 billion in earnings and 10.2 million jobs.

Economic Impact of Commercial Aviation on the U.S. Economy

Source: FAA Air Traffic Organization, The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy, December 2009

In the FAA report, ATO Senior Vice President John Pipes observes, "Aviation boosts local economies and creates new markets at home and abroad. From the business trips and vacations we take, to the products and services we enjoy, aviation makes it all happen." He also noted that "Civil aviation promotes and relies upon technological innovation. Jobs in this sector tend to require high skill sets that foster intellectual and human capital formation, benefiting the entire economy."