The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each.CY 2013 Primary Airports -- Preliminary Data The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways. Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In terms of cargo, in 2015, eight of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's second-busiest, Memphis International Airport, just behind Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals.

, there are 19,919 airports in the United States, of which 5,217 are designated as "public use", including for general aviation and other activities. In 2012, 88% of all traffic was through the 62 busiest airports in the country.

Due to the geography of the United States and the generally large distances between major cities, air transportation is the preferred method of travel for trips over , such as for business travelers and long distance vacation travelers. For cities closer together in the Northeastern part of the country (e.g. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.), the Northeast Corridor rail line carries the majority of intercity traffic.

From the start of the Great Recession to the early 2010s, air traffic in the U.S. declined and the U.S. government reported 1.2 million fewer scheduled domestic flights in 2013 than in 2007. Air traffic volume also dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the airline industry has also experienced rapid consolidation with all of nation's largest carriers experiencing mergers. The average domestic airline fare steadily increased from 2009 until the first quarter of 2017 where it retreated to the same average of 2009, the lowest the average fare has been since 1995.

History

On January 1, 1914, pioneering aviator Tony Jannus captained the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, the first commercial passenger airline in the United States.

Construction of Air Fields The design of the air fields used by the US Army Signal Corps, which was the precourser to the US Air Force, was created by Albert Kahn. He was an architect who worked on the architecture of many major American cities namely Detroit. Kahn was known for his neo classical architecture which can be seen in the housing on air bases. The army used the Royal Canadian Flying Corps air base structure to build the air fields while Kahn came up with the standard hangar/building designs for the military.Longacre, Edward G. “A PLACE LIKE NO OTHER: The Origins of Langley Field, 1916-1921.” Air Power History 44, no. 4 (1997): 4–17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26287884.Smith, Micheal (October 27, 2023). "Kahn's Hangars, Part One: World War One Training Fields". albertkahnlegacy.org. Retrieved 10/22/25

World War I When the U.S. entered the World War I in April 1917, it had already been lagging behind its European counterparts in aircraft production. This was largely due to the fact that the U.S. entered the war much later, when most of the European countries were already pressured to advance their aircraft technologies to outcompete one another. The Europeans had already developed standardized mass production of aircraft, while the U.S. was forced to expand to meet their wartime necessities. Even so, most of the aircraft used by the U.S. in wartime were from Britain or France. In August 1917, Congress passed the Aero Bill which dedicated $640 million towards aircraft production; however, the U.S. economy overall was unable to successfully transition into a mass-producing aircraft industry in such a short amount of time.The American Aerospace Industry: From Workshop to Global Enterprise. By Roger E. Bilstein. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996.

Post WWI Era (1918–1930s)

After the first World War, the U.S. aircraft industry declined and stagnated, due to low budgets, low demand, and the high competition from foreign manufacturers who already possessed technology far more advanced than the U.S. did. Because the bulk of the aircraft demand had come from military uses, the post-war period resulted in a surplus of aircraft left over from wartime accompanied by a lack of demand, creating an excess supply of unused aircraft.

Military aviation dominated the aircraft industry up until the mid-1920s, and it was during the late 1920s when civil aviation appeared and began to rise. Beginning in the mid-1920s, in order to sustain the existence of the aircraft industry the U.S. government endorsed and subsidized airlines to carry airmail throughout the country, leading to the U.S. having the largest airmail system in the world. The U.S. implemented the Kelly Air Mail Act in 1925 which induced competition amongst airlines and eventually led to the expansion from carrying mail to carrying people and commercial goods. The emergence of an expansive airmail system allowed for easier and faster correspondence and transport. Aircraft as a means of passenger travel also began to emerge during this time period, though civilian air travel did not surge until after World War II. Unemployment was not significantly affected by the emergence of the civil aviation industry, as the jobs that were created were occupied by people who previously worked in the army and had been unemployed immediately after the war's end.

World War II U.S. aircraft production surged throughout World War II. The U.S. experienced an immense amount of government spending on defense production and a shift from automobile production to aircraft production. At the beginning of the war, the U.S.' aircraft production was one of the lowest in the world, but by 1945, the U.S. aircraft production had produced more than a third of the world's total aircraft. Aircraft production made up most of the U.S.' manufacturing output during the World War II era from 1940 to 1945, contributing to the surge in GDP growth.

The expansion of the airline industry in response to wartime needs also led to higher demand for labor. Increasingly more pilots, flight staff, engineers, and researchers were needed to operate the aircraft as well as develop advanced technology, leading to increased job creation. During this time, unemployment rates decreased significantly, dropping to nearly the full employment rate.

Post WWII The end of World War II, immediately followed by demobilization, led to airplane companies losing a total of $35 million in 1946 in sales and $115 million in 1947. There was once again an excess in aircraft supply post-war and not a high enough corresponding demand. Accordingly, unemployment increased slightly by 2% in the 2 years following the end of World War II. However, with the technological improvements in passenger travel safety and comfort, accompanied by an increasing demand in commercial aviation, the airline industry was soon driving revenues that were 500% of its revenues by 1945. This increase in commercial demand was also fueled by an increase in consumer confidence in airlines, reinforced by the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1958, which managed aviation safety.

Economist Alfred Kahn became the chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board in the mid-1970s, which eventually led to Congress passing the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. This allowed for free market competition in the airline industry, to meet the pressure of the decreasing world price of air travel. This ultimately allowed the U.S. airline industry to operate competitively in the international market.

Twenty-first century

The U.S. airline industry has suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The attacks of September 11 dramatically decreased consumer confidence in the airline industry. The airline industry lost more than $330 million each day within the first week of the attacks, totaling losses between $1 and $2 billion. In the following years, the decrease in demand accompanied by the decreasing price of air travel reduced revenues significantly.

The price of fuel has also been rising, further increasing airlines' losses by $180 million per year. Another large part of airline expenses comes from employee wages, which make up 40% of airlines' expenses. To compensate for rising costs and decreasing revenues, airlines have decreased the number of planes in service and thus have also laid off workers, negatively impacting the economy's unemployment rate.

+ Annual U.S. Schedule Service Passenger Airlines Financial Reports, $ millions Year OperatingRevenue Fares BaggageFees ChangeFees OperatingExpenses Fuel Labor OperatingProfit NetIncome 2011 153,294 114,299 3,393 2,390 148,048 43,755 35,377 5,246 490 2012 156,470 115,975 3,450 2,538 150,467 44,902 37,195 6,003 98 2013 161,597 121,333 3,350 2,814 150,286 42,629 38,043 11,311 12,169 2014 169,277 127,455 3,530 2,981 154,677 43,431 40,771 14,600 7,447 2015 168,874 126,880 3,814 3,012 140,881 26,977 45,385 27,993 25,596

+ Large Airline Systemwide (Domestic + International), $ millions, 2015 Rank Airline NetIncome OperatingProfit OperatingRevenue Fares % OperatingExpenses Fuel % Labor % 1 American 7,895 6,189 41,084 29,173 0.71 34,895 6,189 17.7 10,066 28.8 2 Delta 4,539 7,845 40,816 28,437 0.70 32,971 6,503 19.7 10,445 31.7 3 United 7,301 5,167 37,864 26,333 0.70 32,697 6,345 19.4 10,014 30.6 4 Southwest 2,181 4,117 19,820 18,347 0.93 15,704 3,616 23.0 6,689 42.6 5 JetBlue 677 1,198 6,416 5,907 0.92 5,218 1,348 25.8 1,628 31.2 6 Alaska 829 1,291 5,594 3,961 0.71 4,303 808 18.8 1,233 28.6 7 Hawaiian 193 431 2,313 2,015 0.87 1,882 416 22.1 526 27.9 8 Spirit 331 509 2,142 1,267 0.59 1,632 461 28.3 378 23.2 9 SkyWest 113 216 1,932 1,876 0.97 1,716 115 6.7 732 42.6 10 Frontier 146 276 1,604 1,277 0.80 1,328 346 26.1 313 23.6 10-Carrier 24,204 27,239 159,585 118,592 0.74 132,346 26,148 19.8 42,023 31.8 All 25,596 27,993 168,874 126,880 0.75 140,881 26,977 19.1 45,385 32.2

Contribution to GDP and employment The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2009 found that commercial aviation accounts for approximately 5% of U.S. gross domestic product and also contributes to $1.3 trillion in annual economic activity as well as helps generate and support 10 million jobs annually. The aircraft industry contributes to the economy through many different avenues, including manufacturing and the airline industry. As of 2009, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association reported airline operations helped "generate $150.5 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product, while airport operations contributed an additional $44.6 billion."

Economic Impact of Commercial Aviation on the U.S. Economy (2006–2009) Annual Economic Activity/Output $1.2–$2.3 trillion Annual Personal Earnings $370–$405 billion Share of GDP 4.9–5.2 percent Job Impact 9.7–10.5 million

Contribution to Climate Change

The environmental effects of aviation in the US are considerable. Domestic flights in the US caused about 385 kg of CO2 per capita to be emitted in 2018, the highest value of any country, while outbound international flights contributed another 170 kg per capita.

Airports

Operations Public airports are usually constructed and operated by local governments. The main exceptions are on military bases. Like highways and passenger rail, the federal government subsidizes air travel with $14 billion of federal funds going to airport operations in 2002.

Security and regulation