Summary The US sees over 10 million scheduled passenger flights annually. The FAA modernizes airspace through NextGen initiative. The aviation industry contributes nearly $500 billion to the US economy whilst creating 10 million jobs yearly.
The US is a powerhouse in the aviation industry. Housing more than half the airports in the world, alongside being a manufacturer of various aircraft that have been used around the world, the nation where the modern aircraft was first made is also one of the safest nations in the world to take a flight. In this article, we are going to take a look at five figures that emphasize the scale of commercial aviation in the US.
Every day, 2.9 million people fly over American airspace and are carried by over 45,000 aircraft. 5 10,000,000+ scheduled passenger flights per year Close to three million passengers fly in and out of US airports each day The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides us with the details of where, when, and how (often) passengers in the United States fly.
More than ten million scheduled passenger flights take place in the United States every year. While carriers such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, etc., are the domestic airlines in the US with the highest number of passengers, a few Mexican carriers fall in the list of foreign airlines with the maximum number of flights to the US .
Airlines US departing flights: January - June* Average daily departures ** (min,max) British Airways 7,737 43 (30,48) Aeromexico 8,124 45 (34, 57) WestJet 9,876 54 (34, 68) Volaris 10,243 57 (50, 66) Air Canada 35,170 190 (173, 209) *non-stop each way, as of January 25, 2024 ** Each Way The two of the longest routes taken by passengers in the US include: New York JFK-Honolulu, launched by Delta Air Lines in 2014, is the second-longest domestic route in the US. The Honolulu-Boston route operated by Hawaiian Airlines is 5,095-mile (8,199 km) long, and is the US's longest nonstop domestic passenger service route. 4 More than five million square miles of domestic airspace The oceanic airspace and the domestic airspace add up to around thirty million square miles Domestic airspace (in square miles) 5,300,000 Oceanic airspace (in square miles) 24,100,000 The United States has 5,300,000 square miles of domestic airspace, compared to the total area of 3,796,742 sq mi of 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.
Further, the US has an oceanic airspace of 24,100,000 square miles. The FAA is currently undergoing some changes to modernize its airspace systems through an initiative known as the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The initiative that aims at lowering the carbon footprint of aviation, alongside other changes, as reported by the FAA: "We engage with the public and share practices with the aviation community to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies.
The FAA and its partners have implemented new technologies and capabilities, which are leading to a new way of managing air traffic known as Trajectory Based Operations (TBO). FAA's modernization initiave leads the traffic management initiaves in North America . The aviation's regulatory body further commented: Our modernization initiative enables a more flexible — yet robust and resilient — aerospace infrastructure that ensures the safe introduction of non-traditional aviation, such as commercial space transportation and advanced air mobility.
" 3 45,000 daily flights Even at its lowest, the US air traffic organization handles around a thousand aircraft an hour Number of flights 16,405,000 Number of apssenegrs flying in and out of US airports everyday 2,900,000 45,000 daily flights in the US, corresponding to 16,405,000 annual flights and 2,900,000 daily passengers, means that 87% of the US population has taken a flight. On the other hand, the global average of the percentage of people who have never flown is 80 % . According to a report by Aaron Spray , a journalist for Simple Flying, the number of people flying from the 45,000 daily flights is equal to populations in certain states of the US: “Every day, FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is responsible for providing service to over 45,000 flights and some 2.
9 million airline passengers (equal to the populations of Mississippi and Kansas). The FAA is monitoring and directing 5,000 flights at any given minute during the peak operational times (the rush hour of the skies). The numbers drop off between 5:00 and 11:00 GMT (or 01:00 and 7:00 EST) when the number of aircraft in the sky falls below 1,000.
" He also puts these numbers in perspective with the numbers pre- and post-pandemic: “In 2019, there were a total of 1,057,645,399 air passengers - this halved during the Covid years (2020 and 2021) but had recovered to 917,029,842. For comparison, the population of the United States is approximately 330,000,000. By comparison, around 590 million Chinese fly every year, according to Ceic Data .
“ 2 More than 20 air route traffic control centers The median hourly wage of an ATC in the US is approximately $63, making it a highly sought-after job Air route traffic control centers 21 Air traffic controllers 14,000+ The huge air traffic in the US also necessitates quite a substantial number of air traffic controllers. The statistics of more than 14,000 ATCs and 21 air route traffic controllers also give a sense of the scale of commercial aviation in the US. The job of an ATC is also one that is paid really well in the US.
ATCs in the US get paid between $60,000 and $200,000 a year , with salaries in states like Georgia, Illinois, and New Hampshire between $136,000 and $147,000. The median salary of an ATC in the US is $130,000. Despite the impressive number of air traffic controllers, air traffic management remains one significant challenge for the aviation community in the US , which is why Ground Delay Programs (GDPs) are being implemented.
Air transport created more than 46 million jobs in the Asia-Pacific region. 1 Hundreds of billions into the economy of the US Close to 1 million jobs are created by the aviation industry in the US The impressive number of flights (daily/yearly), the busy routes, and the staggering number of passengers who fly in the US mean that aviation is key to the US economy. Yearly annual earnings of close to half a billion and more than ten million jobs created by the aviation industry cap off the enormous scale of commercial aviation in the US.
IATA breaks down the number of jobs provided by the aviation industry in the US , according to the various branches within the aviation industry: “ aircraft manufacturers, and air navigation service providers employ 2.2 million people in the United States. In addition, by buying goods and services from local suppliers the sector supported another 1.
7 million jobs. On top of this, the sector is estimated to support a further 1.3 million jobs through the wages it pays its employees, some or all of which are subsequently spent on consumer goods and services.
Here’s IATA’s breakdown of the contribution of aviation to the economy: “ The air transport industry, including airlines, and its supply chain, are estimated to support US $641 billion of GDP in the United States. Spending by foreign tourists supports a further US $138 billion of the country’s GDP.”.
