Economic Contribution of Anchorage International Airport

Abstract

Airport jobs created by Anchorage residents and by non-local airport users wouldn't exist without the airport. The 750 jobs created by tenants that don't directly rely on air services would still exist without the airport; they could easily be somewhere else in the city. Those jobs are mainly with the U.S. Postal Service and the Alaska Department of Transponation's regional headquarters. Providing air transport services to Anchorage residents doesn't bring new money into the economy - it recycles money already in the economy. But the other airpon users do bring money into the Anchorage economy. The jobs created by those other user groups are what economists call basic jobs: jobs that generate economic growih by producing goods or services that are sold outside the region. The other source of jobs at the airport is Tenants Not Aviation Dependent. These jobs don't depend on the airport, but since they are physically located on airport land, a complete description of the airport as an economic entity must include them. They account for 750 jobs at the airport and another 600 jobs in the community - bringing the total of jobs at the airport and in the community to 12,300. The payroll for the 750 airport jobs is $29 million, and the 600 jobs in the community have a payroll of $15 million-bringing the total payroll for airport and related community jobs to $360 million. This is the economic effect of all of the activities physically located at the airport.