Washington’s 135 public airports are continuing to help local
economies take flight, generating thousands of jobs and millions of
dollars for cities and counties throughout the state.
The findings are just a few of the highlights from the recently-released
2012 Aviation Economic Impact Study,
conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation’s
Aviation Division, which protects and preserves the state’s system of
public use airports.
Data collected for the impact study provides a look at how Washington’s public-use airports contribute to the economy.
“The study helps us take a much closer, detailed look at our system
in terms of its economic benefits and provides unique insight from the
perspective of the airports, the industry and those who use our
services,” said Tristan Atkins, WSDOT aviation director. “Ultimately,
it’s a tool that helps us improve the way we do business.”
Highlights of the 2012 study include:
- Statewide commercial and general aviation activity generate
approximately 248,500 jobs, $15.3 billion in wages, and $50.9 billion in
economic activity.
- A significant share of aviation system contributions are from the
mobility and connectivity of people, goods and services across all modes
of transportation.
- Smaller airport facilities are critical in providing access to
life-saving medical air transport and other services such as disaster
management and wildfire support.
- Tax revenues generated from aviation activities provide the State of
Washington General Fund more than $540 million annually. Cities,
special purpose districts, and counties receive approximately $243
million in annual revenue.
“Our last study was completed in 2001, so this also helps us provide
some much-needed updates to economic data such as the jobs, wages and
types of businesses at each airport,” Atkins said. “The 2012 study
results speak for themselves – and the message is overwhelmingly
positive.”
In 2001, airports generated 171,300 jobs, more than $4 billion in wages and $18.5 billion in annual sales.
The 2012 study uses different methods to present a more complete
picture of the aviation system’s economic impacts, resulting in
increases of 77,200 jobs, $11.3 billion in wages, and $32.4 billion in
sales compared to the 2001 study.
Working to brighten the airports’ financial picture even further,
WSDOT Aviation is creating an online calculator that will allow users to
explore economic development opportunities, attract businesses and
weigh investment choices at individual airports.
Monitoring public use airports’ impacts is just one of the roles of
WSDOT’s Aviation Division. WSDOT Aviation is also responsible for
integrating aviation with the state’s other transportation modes of
highways, rail and ferries.
Source: http://theolympiareport.com