Piedmont Triad – The Piedmont Triad International Airport contributes $8.6 billion to the local economy and supports more than 30,000 local jobs, according to a report released today by the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation.
The report, North Carolina: The State of Aviation, shows that airport and aviation-related jobs in the Piedmont Triad also provide $1.6 billion in personal income and contribute $204.7 million in local and state tax revenue, based on 2019 data analyzed in the report.
“We are very happy with the numbers in this new report,” said Kevin Baker, Executive Director of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. “One of the airport’s two key missions is to be a significant driver of the local economy. This report indicates that we are meeting that objective.”
The study, conducted every two years for the DOT by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education, highlights the pre-pandemic economic impacts of the state’s public airports. The 2019 numbers are the most recent figures available.
“COVID-19 has had a significant impact on this and other airports, particularly on the passenger service side,” said Paul Mengert, Chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. “Nevertheless, this study shows that our economic development efforts are paying off and that we need to push forward with them, now more than ever.”
The report has other good news for the Piedmont Triad.
- PTI leads the state in cargo service, with total annual processed freight of 303,500 tons. Top cargo carriers that operate at PTI include FedEx, UPS, and DHL (Kalitta Air).
- HAECO Americas, which has its North American Headquarters located at PTI, is the state’s leading commercial aerospace maintenance and repair company. HAECO employs nearly 3,000 of the state’s 4,583 maintenance and repair workers in a state that ranks fifth in the nation in aerospace maintenance and repair employment.
- The Piedmont Triad leads the state in the number of students enrolled in local community college aviation programs, with more than 500 students enrolled in Guilford Technical Community College programs alone.
As a whole, the study shows that North Carolina’s system of 72 public airports contribute a total of $61 billion annually to the state’s economy, supporting 373,000 jobs that generate $15 billion in personal income and $2.5 billion in state and local tax revenues. Additionally, the airports of the state are responsible for 10% of North Carolina’s total GDP.
View the full report, including the breakdown of each individual airport’s contributions, at www.ncdot.gov/aviation.