It is difficult to overstate the importance of the U.S. aviation industry. The United States has the largest aviation industry in the world, accounting for approximately 40 percent of global aviation. In 1997, U.S. carriers boarded nearly 600 million passengers. Cargo traffic for U.S. carriers reached record levels, up 15 percent to 20.5 billion revenue ton miles last year. One study predicts that U.S. carriers will hire 14,000 pilots this year alone.
Tourism is now the second largest U.S. employer in part because of our strong aviation industry.
US carriers are the largest purchaser of commercial aircraft in the world last year. Airports have become vibrant job creators and drivers of local economic development. Most importantly, more and more Americans are flying every day. In today's global economy, opening international markets must be a priority. First, international passenger and cargo traffic has been growing at a faster rate than domestic travel, despite the slowdown in foreign economies.