The US civil aviation maintenance industry employed nearly 346,000 workers and generated $78.2 billion in economic activity at the start of 2026, according to a state by state analysis prepared by Oliver Wyman for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. Employment rose almost 2 percent from a year earlier while economic activity climbed 14 percent.

Georgia ranked among the largest state contributors, with 26,492 maintenance related jobs generating $6.09 billion in economic activity, driven mainly by FAA certificated repair stations and Part 145 shops concentrated around metro Atlanta. Texas posted the second highest total among Southeast and South Central priority markets, with 31,753 jobs and $7.09 billion in activity. Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi each posted measurable maintenance employment and revenue, reflecting how widely the industry's footprint extends across the region.

Nationally, maintenance, repair and overhaul operations accounted for the largest share of both jobs and revenue, with more than 270,000 employees and $52.6 billion in MRO specific revenue, or 78 percent of the industry's workforce and 67 percent of its economic activity. Parts manufacturing and distribution made up the remainder, employing more than 75,000 workers and generating $25.6 billion.

FAA certificated Part 145 repair stations were the industry's largest single employer category, with over 192,000 workers, while commercial airlines employed close to 74,000 maintenance workers as of the start of 2026.

Source: ARSA - https://arsa.org/news-media/economic-data/