Every town of any size wants commercial air service. and a new study makes it easy to understand why.
Preliminary numbers from a new study released by the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation found that the state’s 104 publicly owned airports accounted for a $13 billion economic impact, according to data compiled in 2012. (That’s the latest year for which the information is available.)
Breaking down the numbers further, that figure includes 123,500 jobs, $4.2 billion in annual payroll and $29.6 million in annual tax revenue.
Ohio’s seven commercial airports — Akron/Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown-Warren — provided $11.5. billion in economic impact, 106,000 jobs, $3.5 billion in annual payroll and bring in 3.6 million visitors a year to the state. (In case you’re wondering why Cincinnati’s airport was not included in the survey, it’s actually located in Northern Kentucky.)
Most states do these studies yearly or every other year. They serve as a treasure trove of hard numbers showing just how much money local communities receive from commercial and general aviation airports. Check out this 1.54-minute video, which shows the economic benefits of Akron-Canton Airport.
RESOURCES
In case you’d like to get some information about your airport, here are some places to check.
Federal Aviation Administration’s airport data
National Association of State Aviation Officials
