GA stories spotlighted in Massachusetts economic study

Multiple factors brought about the employment, payroll, and total output increases reported in the Massachusetts Statewide Airport Economic Impact Study Update for 2019—a comparison with a 2014 update’s findings. Total employment of almost 200,000 workers was up 23 percent. Total payroll, at $7.2 billion, was 19 percent higher, and the $24.6 billion of total economic output represented a 49-percent improvement.

Growth in airline passenger travel played a leading role, although higher spending by visitors including those arriving by general aviation aircraft, growth of the business-aviation and charter segment, and businesses expanding their occupancy of airport space all helped push the aviation economy higher, the study said.

“Overall, for every $100 spent by aviation related businesses, an additional $56 is created as a multiplier impact that boosts spending, payroll, and employment benefits improving the quality of life in Massachusetts for all its residents,” the update noted.

The surging unmanned aircraft systems piece of the state’s aviation picture was acknowledged, with the study predicting that “in Massachusetts alone, it is expected that the UAS industry will grow from approximately $63 million to over $285 million by 2026.”

“This report by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation produces data that all pilots should know to help promote their airports and address those airports’ needs,” said Sean Collins, AOPA Eastern Region manager. AOPA is a member of the project management team that guides the study’s development.

Telling GA’s story

To present the impact of aviation in layman’s terms, the 2019 update adopted a new approach, sharing “some of the many unique stories that each of Massachusetts’ diverse airports bring to their host communities.”

• Synergies between businesses and Southbridge Municipal Airport and Beverly Regional Airport.
• Certification of an FAA-approved Part 147 Aircraft Maintenance Technician program for high school students in Westfield, location of Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.
• Infrastructure upgrades and tenancy growth at Minute Man Air Field in Stow.
• A notable collaboration between Marshfield Municipal Airport’s fixed-base operation, Shoreline Aviation, and the Marshfield Police Department in which the FBO provided an aircraft and a pilot for a search-and-rescue effort when a state police helicopter was unavailable. The search effort in Marshfield "resulted in a timely arrest of a wanted suspect on the run within the community,” the report noted.