{"id":37013,"date":"2026-11-02T21:57:28","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=37013"},"modified":"2026-11-02T21:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:57:30","slug":"tennessee-department-of-transportation-announces-2026-aviation-economic-impact-study-findings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/uncategorized\/tennessee-department-of-transportation-announces-2026-aviation-economic-impact-study-findings\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Department of Transportation Announces 2026 Aviation Economic Impact Study Findings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has completed the 2026 Aviation Economic Impact Study (AEIS), detailing how aviation drives economic growth across Tennessee. Using the most recent available data, the AEIS quantifies the economic contributions from Tennessee\u2019s 76 public-use airports and off-airport air cargo to communities statewide. The findings show aviation generates $53.8 billion in annual economic activity, supports 236,000 jobs with nearly $18 billion in payroll and contributes 9% of Tennessee\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cAviation is a gateway for commerce, competitiveness, and community connectivity in Tennessee,\u201d said TDOT Commissioner Will Reid, P.E. \u201cFrom advanced manufacturing and healthcare to tourism and small business, airports enable employers to reach markets, attract talent, visitors and serve customers. These benefits extend well beyond the airport fence to every corner of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AEIS analyzes on-airport jobs and payroll, visitor spending by out-of-state travelers, off-airport air cargo movements, and aircraft operations statewide. While the study provides a \u201csnapshot in time,\u201d the increase from $40 billion in 2019 to $53.8 billion underscores a competitive and highly valued aviation system that supports Tennessee\u2019s broader economy. This growth highlights aviation\u2019s essential role in strengthening business activity, expanding workforce access, and enhancing statewide economic competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAviation is infrastructure for the economy,\u201d said TDOT Aeronautics Director John-Paul Saalwaechter, P.E. \u201cWhen a manufacturer selects a site, when a hospital coordinates critical flights, when visitors choose Tennessee for a long weekend, airports make those decisions possible. The AEIS shows that aviation\u2019s value is measured in jobs, payroll, and GDP, not just runways and terminals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights from the AEIS (2025 data):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        $53.8B in total annual economic activity statewide (including airport operations, tenants, visitor spending, and air cargo impacts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        236,000 jobs supported and ~$18B in annual payroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        9% of Tennessee’s GDP is attributable to aviation\u2011enabled activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 System coverage across 76 public\u2011use airports, providing business access, rural connectivity, and visitor gateways state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read the study, visit: Economic Impact Study \u2013 TASP 2040<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has completed the 2026 Aviation Economic Impact Study (AEIS), detailing how aviation drives economic growth across Tennessee. Using the most recent available data, the AEIS quantifies the economic contributions from Tennessee\u2019s 76 public-use airports and off-airport air cargo to communities statewide. The findings show aviation generates $53.8 billion in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37015,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37013\/revisions\/37015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}