In July, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) released its state rankings of Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness. Beating out every other state in the union to take the top spot was none other than Arizona. Florida, Georgia, Utah and Missouri rounded out the top five-ranked states.
PWC pointed to “significant improvement” in operating costs, tax methodology changes and attractive property and unemployment taxes as reasons for Arizona’s ranking. The report also cited strong gains made by industry employers in 2015 including Bombardier’s workforce increase of 14 percent at Tucson International Airport.
Arizona has more than 1,200 aerospace and defense companies operating in our state, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Honeywell, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, United Technologies and others.
Arizona is home to the A-10 Warthog and the remanufacturing of Apache helicopters. In addition, Luke Airforce Base boasts the only pilot training center for the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, the F-35A Lightning II. The base also has the only active-duty Air Force training wing for F-16s. And not to forget pilotless technologies, Arizona’s Fort Huachuca is home to the largest unmanned aerial systems training facility on earth.
The Arizona Commerce Authority reports that Arizona’s aerospace and defense industries employ more than 52,000 people with an annual payroll of approximately $5.5 billion and that Arizona is ranked:
- #2 largest employment in guided missile systems manufacturing
- #2 largest employment in space and defense systems manufacturing
- #4 largest employment in aviation and aerospace manufacturing
- #6 largest employment in Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) occupations
- Average wages of Arizona’s aviation jobs:
- Search, Detection and Navigation Instruments Manufacturing: $97,656
- Aerospace Products and Parts Manufacturing: $88,920
- Air Transportation: $63,284
- Air Transportation Support: $47,476
“Arizona’s Aerospace and Defense Industry” Visit AZCommerce.com.
