Microsoft Word - STL AEIS Technical Report_Revised FINAL

January 2024

St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Economic Impact Study

Prepared for

Greater St. Louis, Inc.

Final Report

January 2024

Prepared by

Kimley-Horn and Associates

1001 W. Southern Avenue

Suite 131

Mesa, AZ 85210

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November 2023

Table of Contents

1. Study Introduction ............................................................................................................... 6

2. Regional Overview ............................................................................................................... 8

2.1. Metropolitan Area Population ......................................................................................... 8

2.2. Metropolitan Area Economy ......................................................................................... 10

3. Airport Setting .................................................................................................................... 15

3.1. Historic Activity ............................................................................................................. 15

3.2. Master Plan Forecast Activity Summary ....................................................................... 20

3.3. Similar Airport Comparison ........................................................................................... 22

3.3.1. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Overview .................................................. 23

3.3.2. Pittsburgh International Airport .............................................................................. 25

3.3.3. Nashville International Airport ............................................................................... 28

3.3.4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ............................................... 31

3.3.5. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport .................................................................. 34

3.3.6. Summary ............................................................................................................... 38

4. Economic Methodology and Modeling ............................................................................ 43

4.1. Key Terms .................................................................................................................... 43

4.1.1. Economic Impact Categories ................................................................................ 43

4.1.2. Economic Impact Measures .................................................................................. 44

4.2. Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 46

4.2.1. On-Airport Activity ................................................................................................. 46

4.2.2. Off-Airport Activity ................................................................................................. 48

4.2.3. Tax Impacts ........................................................................................................... 51

4.2.4. Supplier Diversity Program .................................................................................... 51

4.3. Economic Modeling Process ........................................................................................ 51

4.3.1. Use of IMPLAN Model ........................................................................................... 52

5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits .................................. 54

5.1. 2019 On-Airport Impacts .............................................................................................. 54

5.1.1. 2019 On-Airport Direct Impacts ............................................................................. 54

5.1.2. 2019 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts ........................................................................ 55

5.1.3. 2019 Total On-Airport Activity Impacts .................................................................. 56

5.2. 2019 Off-Airport Impacts .............................................................................................. 57

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November 2023

5.2.1. 2019 Off-Airport Direct Impacts ............................................................................. 57

5.2.2. 2019 Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts ........................................................................ 58

5.2.3. 2019 Total Off-Airport Impacts .............................................................................. 59

5.3. 2019 Total Airport Impacts ........................................................................................... 60

5.4. Supplier Diversity Program Impacts ............................................................................. 62

5.5. 2019 Tax Impacts ......................................................................................................... 64

5.6. Community Benefits ..................................................................................................... 66

5.6.1. Bayer ..................................................................................................................... 66

5.6.2. Boeing ................................................................................................................... 67

5.6.3. Bunge .................................................................................................................... 68

6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions ............................................................ 71

6.1. 2032 On-Airport Impacts .............................................................................................. 71

6.1.1. 2032 On-Airport Direct Impacts ............................................................................. 72

6.1.2. 2032 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts ........................................................................ 73

6.1.3. 2032 Total On-Airport Activity Impacts .................................................................. 74

6.2. 2032 Off-Airport Impacts .............................................................................................. 75

6.2.1. 2032 Off-Airport Direct Impacts ............................................................................. 77

6.2.2. 2032 Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts ........................................................................ 78

6.2.3. 2032 Total Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts ............................................................... 79

6.2.4. Impacts of Future International Air Service ........................................................... 80

6.3. 2032 Total Airport Impacts ........................................................................................... 82

6.4. 2032 Tax Impacts ......................................................................................................... 84

7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 86

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November 2023

Table of Tables

2. Regional Overview ............................................................................................................... 8

Table 2-1. Multi-billion-dollar Firms Located in St. Louis MSA ................................................ 12

3. Airport Setting .................................................................................................................... 15

Table 3-1. Forecast GA Operations at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, FY Basis ....... 22

Table 3-2. Comparative Summary between St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Other

Case Example Airports ............................................................................................................ 23

Table 3-3. St. Louis Metropolitan Region Overview ................................................................ 24

Table 3-4. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Airport Activity Overview ........................... 25

Table 3-5. Pittsburgh Metropolitan Region Overview .............................................................. 25

Table 3-6. PIT Activity Overview ............................................................................................. 26

Table 3-7. Nashville Metropolitan Region Overview ............................................................... 29

Table 3-8. BNA Airport Activity Overview ................................................................................ 30

Table 3-9. Cincinnati Metropolitan Region Overview .............................................................. 32

Table 3-10. CVG Airport Activity Overview ............................................................................. 33

Table 3-11. Austin Metropolitan Region Overview .................................................................. 35

Table 3-12. AUS Airport Activity Overview .............................................................................. 36

Table 3-13. Airport Summary Comparison .............................................................................. 38

Table 3-14. Historic Comparison of Socioeconomic Across Case Study Airports ................... 39

4. Economic Methodology and Modeling ............................................................................ 43

Table 4-1. Defining Economic Impact Categories ................................................................... 43

Table 4-2. Defining Economic Impact Measures ..................................................................... 44

Table 4-3. NAICS Codes Used in Off-Airport Business Assessment ...................................... 48

5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits .................................. 54

Table 5-1. 2019 On-Airport Direct Impacts .............................................................................. 54

Table 5-2. 2019 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts ......................................................................... 56

Table 5-3. 2019 On-Airport Total Impacts ............................................................................... 57

Table 5-4. 2019 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Direct Impacts ................................ 58

Table 5-5. 2019 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Direct Impacts................................................... 58

Table 5-6. 2019 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Multiplier Impacts ........................... 59

Table 5-7. 2019 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Multiplier Impacts.............................................. 59

Table 5-8. 2019 Off-Airport Total Impacts ............................................................................... 60

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November 2023

Table 5-9. 2019 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Airport Impacts ........................ 60

Table 5-10. 2019 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Impacts by Activty Type ........ 61

Table 5-11. 2019 Airport Contracted Services Impacts Attributable to the Airport’s Supplier

Diversity Program .................................................................................................................... 62

Table 5-12. 2019 Airport Capital Expenditure Impacts Attributable to the Airport’s Supplier

Diversity Program .................................................................................................................... 63

Table 5-13. 2019 Tax Revenues Generated from Direct On- and Off-Airport Activity ............. 65

Table 5-14. Tax Revenues Generated from Total On- and Off-Airport Activity ....................... 66

6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions ............................................................ 71

Table 6-1. 2032 On-Airport Direct Impacts .............................................................................. 73

Table 6-2. 2032 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts ......................................................................... 74

Table 6-3. 2032 On-Airport Total Impacts ............................................................................... 75

Table 6-4. 2032 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Direct Impacts ................................ 77

Table 6-5. 2032 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Direct Impacts................................................... 78

Table 6-6. 2032 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Multiplier Impacts ........................... 78

Table 6-7. 2032 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Multiplier Impacts.............................................. 79

Table 6-8. 2032 Off-Airport Total Impacts ............................................................................... 80

Table 6-9. 2032 Total Impacts of Future International Air Service at St. Louis Lambert

International Airport ................................................................................................................. 81

Table 6-10. 2032 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Airport Impacts...................... 83

Table 6-11. 2032 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Impacts by Activty Type ........ 84

Table 6-12. 2032 Tax Revenues Generated from Direct On- and Off-Airport Activity ............. 85

Table 6-13. 2032 Tax Revenues Generated from Total On- and Off-Airport Activity .............. 85

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November 2023

Table of Figures

2. Regional Overview ............................................................................................................... 8

Figure 2-1. Illinois and Missouri Counties within the St. Louis MSA.......................................... 8

Figure 2-2. St. Louis MSA Population Change (2000 – 2021) .................................................. 9

Figure 2-3. St. Louis MSA Population Projection (2022 – 2042) ............................................. 10

Figure 2-4. Employment Growth Rates by Industry (2000 – 2018) ......................................... 12

Figure 2-5. Growth in Real Gross Domestic Product (2001 – 2019) ....................................... 14

3. Airport Setting .................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 3-1. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Passenger Enplanements (2000 – 2021) 17

Figure 3-2. Historical Trends in Air Cargo Tonnage (Short Tons) 2004 – 2019 from the St.

Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan ..................................................................... 18

Figure 3-3. Itinerant and Local General Aviation Operations (CY 1997 – 2019) from the St.

Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan ..................................................................... 19

Figure 3-4. Forecast of the Airport’s Enplanements Under Three Scenarios from the St. Louis

Lambert International Airport Master Plan ............................................................................... 20

Figure 3-5. Air Cargo Forecast Tonnage by Scenario - All Carriers (FY 2018 – 2040) .......... 21

Figure 3-6. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Aerial ....................................................... 24

Figure 3-7. Pittsburgh International Airport Aerial ................................................................... 26

Figure 3-8. Nashville International Airport Aerial ..................................................................... 29

Figure 3-9. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Aerial ..................................... 32

Figure 3-10. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Aerial ...................................................... 36

Figure 3-11. Summary of Historic Socioeconomic Trends Across Study Airports ................... 40

Figure 3-12. Historic Enplanements at Comparison Airports .................................................. 41

4. Economic Methodology and Modeling ............................................................................ 43

Figure 4-1. Relationship of Payroll, Value Added, and Business Revenues ........................... 45

Figure 4-2. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Economic Impact Calculation Process .... 46

5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits .................................. 54

Figure 5-1. 2019 MBE and WBE Contributions to Total Airport Contract Service Impacts ..... 63

Figure 5-2. 2019 MBE and DBE Contributions to Total Airport Capital Expenditure Impacts . 64

6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions ............................................................ 71

Figure 6-1. Proposed Airport Development Plan ..................................................................... 72

Figure 6-2. Share of 2032 Total Visitor Spending Impacts by Type of Visitor ......................... 82

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Section 1. Study Introduction // November 2023

1. Study Introduction

Many residents and businesses are likely familiar with their local commercial service airport as

they may depend on it to travel to destinations across the country, and even the world, for

business and/or leisure. They may also understand the airport provides a critical link in the

broader transportation network, facilitating air transportation for the movement of goods and

services, as well as people. However, what many in the public may not realize is that airports

are powerful engines that generate economic activity across several industries by supporting

jobs, generating revenues, providing payroll and employee compensation, and generating

taxes. This starts with direct staff employment but extends to the many businesses hosted at the

airport, on-site construction activity, and many other facets that contribute to local economic

conditions.

Greater St. Louis, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed to support economic development for the

St. Louis metropolitan area, partnered with the St. Louis Lambert International Airport ("the

Airport”) for the St. Louis Lambert International Airport Economic Impact Study. Through the

results of the AEIS, the economic and social value of the Airport is calculated and documented

for use by both groups in communicating with the broader community about the tremendous

contributions of the Airport to the region.

The AEIS utilizes data provided by the Airport and other sources to analyze the economic

impact during a specific time period. For purposes of this study, both a historical and future

analysis are included. The historical economic impact analysis is based on activity from 2019

while the future economic impact analysis uses 2032 as the base year. 2019 was selected as

the historical year to demonstrate a typical year of activity at the Airport. Due to the global

impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, airports across the globe, including St. Louis Lambert

International, experienced a significant decline in aviation activity throughout 2020 and into 2021

and 2022. While aviation activity began recovering in 2022, the recovery was uneven for

airports across the U.S. At St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2023 activity is expected to

surpass 2019 and therefore 2019 is considered representative of the current conditions,

recognizing there have been many structural changes in the economy as a result of the

pandemic that affect all sectors of the economy.

In addition to this historical perspective that generally also represents conditions for 2023, GSL

and the Airport are interested in estimating the future economic impact that will result from the

implementation of a major capital improvement program that includes terminal redevelopment

and expansion. This program will facilitate increases in international service as well as attract

additional activity and growth in the region beyond the Airport. For purposes of this study, 2032

has been assumed to be the year when the full terminal capital program, also referred to as the

preferred airport development program from the Airport’s Master Plan, is complete and is used

to estimate the future economic impact.

The remainder of this technical report starts with a socioeconomic overview of the St. Louis

metropolitan region, then provides context about the Airport and how it compares to other peer

airports. Following this background information, the study defines terminology used in economic

impact, including the different types of impacts calculated, and details the methodology used to

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Section 1. Study Introduction // November 2023

calculate the current economic impacts. Once the current economic impacts are presented, the

study provides an overview of the methodology and results of the future economic contributions

analysis.

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

2. Regional Overview

The following subsections provide an overview of historical and future socioeconomic trends

related to population and the economy for the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. This

information is presented to provide important context about the environment in which the Airport

exists.

2.1. Metropolitan Area Population

St. Louis Lambert International Airport is located within the St. Louis MSA, a bi-state

metropolitan area covering 15 counties across Missouri and Illinois. The counties that make up

the St. Louis MSA are shown in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1. Illinois and Missouri Counties within the St. Louis MSA

Source: Greater St. Louis, 2023.

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

The Airport serves as the primary commercial air service and air cargo provider for the almost 3

million people living within the St. Louis MSA, which ranks 21

in the nation in terms of

population size. Most of this population resides in the Missouri counties of the MSA, with nearly

1 million people living in St. Louis County alone. The population of the St. Louis MSA has

increased by almost 5% from 2000 to 2021 according to historic data provided by Woods and

Poole Economics, Inc. As shown in Figure 2-2, the area’s population experienced steeper

growth from 2000 to 2010, before growth started to level off. There was very little growth

between 2015 and 2020, before the population saw a decline, likely due to the impacts of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 2-2. St. Louis MSA Population Change (2000 – 2021)

Sources: Woods and Poole Economics, Inc., (2000-2021), 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

2,600,000

2,650,000

2,700,000

2,750,000

2,800,000

2,850,000

Population

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

According to population projections prepared by Woods and Poole Economics, Inc., the

population of the St. Louis MSA is anticipated to increase by a Compound Annual Growth Rate

of 0.20% between 2022 and 2042. This projected population increase is presented in Figure

2-3 and estimates that approximately 100,000 people will move into the St. Louis MSA over the

next 20 years, which amounts to approximately 4% total population increase.

Figure 2-3. St. Louis MSA Population Projection (2022 – 2042)

Sources: Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. (2022-2042), 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

2.2. Metropolitan Area Economy

As population continues to increase, economic indicators, such as employment, per capita

income, and regional gross domestic product are expected to increase as well. Estimates

indicate that the St. Louis region welcomes approximately 50,000 people relocating to the area

annually, resulting in a major source of new workforce talent for area employers. In addition to

the region’s growing workforce, the St. Louis region is experiencing an entrepreneurial revival,

with approximately 6,000 new businesses coming to the area annually and more than $400

million in venture capital funds invested in local startups in 2020 alone.

The economy in the St. Louis MSA is diverse and supported by a wide variety of industries,

many of which rely on the Airport to ship and receive goods, as well as transport individuals to

different markets across the country and the world. Key industries targeted for growth in the St.

Louis region include bioscience and health innovation, advanced manufacturing, agricultural

technology and agribusiness, geospatial sciences, and more. While these key industries

St. Louis Regional Overview, Greater St. Louis, Inc, https://greaterstlinc.com/region/regional-overview

2,760,000

2,780,000

2,800,000

2,820,000

2,840,000

2,860,000

2,880,000

2,900,000

2,920,000

2,940,000

Projected Population

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

continue to grow and diversify the economy, the largest industry markets within the metropolitan

region, by share of total employment, include the following industries (presented in order from

largest to smallest):

 Education and Health Services,

 Professional and Business Services,

 Retail and Wholesale Trade, and

 Leisure and Hospitality.

Even though these industries account for the largest percentage of total employment within the

St. Louis MSA, the employment growth rates of these industries vary widely. As shown in

Figure 2-4, employment in the Education and Health Services industry has grown by an

average of 2% annually since 2000, followed by Leisure and Hospitality with a CAGR of just

under 1%.

Growth in the Leisure and Hospitality sector is reflective of the recreational travel

and tourism that is supported in the region. Attractions within the St. Louis MSA include the 630-

foot Gateway Arch National Monument, numerous museums and science centers, professional

sports teams, live music, outdoor recreational areas, and much more. These attractions draw

tens of millions of visitors each year to the St. Louis MSA

, many of whom utilize the Airport to

visit the city.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, Chapter 3 – Aviation Activity Analyses and Forecast

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2020.

Explore St. Louis, Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2022.

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

Figure 2-4. Employment Growth Rates by Industry (2000 – 2018)

Source: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Master Plan, 2022.

Some of the largest employers in the MSA include BJC HealthCare, Washington University in

St. Louis, Mercy Health, and Boeing, which has two locations at/near the Airport. The St. Louis

MSA is also home to several Fortune 500 companies and other large private companies that are

headquartered in the region, as shown in Table 2-1. The presence of these multi-billion-dollar

firms drives, and will continue to drive, demand for infrastructure and services in the St. Louis

region, including the Airport.

Table 2-1. Multi-billion-dollar Firms Located in St. Louis MSA

Firm Name Industry

Annual Revenue

($ billions)

Sources

Centene Health Insurance $144.5 1,2

Bunge

Agribusiness & Food Ingredients

$66.7 2

Enterprise Holdings Services $30.0 3

Emerson Electric Electrical Engineering $19.6 1,2

Reinsurance Group of America Insurance Carriers $16.3 1,2

World Wide Technology Technology Hardware & Equipment $14.5 3

Jones Financial (Edward Jones) Diversified Financials $12.4 1,3

Graybar Electric Capital Goods $10.5 1,3

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

Firm Name Industry

Annual Revenue

($ billions)

Sources

Olin Chemical Manufacturing $9.4 1,2

Ameren Utilities $7.7 1,2

Core & Main Construction $6.7 1

Post Holdings Food Markets $6.4 1

Peabody Energy Coal Energy $4.9 1,2

Stifel Financial Investment Brokerage $4.6 1,2

McCarthy Holdings Construction $4.4 3

Apex Oil Oil & Gas Operations $4.4 3

Arch Resources Coal Energy $3.7 1,2

Arco Construction Construction $3.7 3

Energizer Holdings Manufacturing $3.1 1

Schnuck Markets Food Markets $3.1 3

Caleres Retail $2.9 1

Belden Manufacturing $2.6 1

Alberici Construction $2.6 3

Sources:

1 “7 St. Louis-area companies make Fortune 500 list” St. Louis Business Journal, June 5, 2023,

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2023/06/05/seven-st-louis-companies-make-fortune-500.html, Accessed 6/5/23.

2 “Global 2000, 2023” Forbes, June 8, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/lists/global2000/, Accessed 6/8/23.

3 “America’s Largest Private Companies” Forbes, Dec. 1, 2022, www.forbes.com/largest-private-companies/list/, Accessed 2/23/23.

Compiled by Greater St. Louis Inc.

While not featured on the above list, the Bayer Corporation’s US headquarters is located in St.

Louis, with approximately 6,000 employees based in the region across all lines of business.

Bayer Corporation is a global firm, and frequently relies on access to domestic and international

air transportation to connect various lines of business across their global markets. Bayer is a

key user of the Airport and a more detailed account of how this firm relies on the Airport is

provided in Chapter 4. Current Airport Economic Contributions, Section 4.1.1.

The region’s growing workforce and diversified industries are driving forces in an overall

increase in the Gross Regional Product

over the past two decades. Inflation-adjusted (Real)

GRP measures the total value of all goods and services produced in an area, adjusted for

inflation over time. As Real GRP (or Gross Domestic Product) increases, employment and

income associated with that employment also increase, resulting in greater demand for air travel

for both business and leisure travelers. As shown in Figure 2-5, the GRP of the St. Louis MSA

has experienced consistent annual growth over the past 20 years

, reaching over $145 billion in

2019. Similar to population, Real GRP did experience short periods of reduction during the

Great Recession of 2009 and during the economic downturn of 2020 caused by the COVID

pandemic.

GRP is the equivalent of GDP but relates specifically to production of goods within the St. Louis MSA,

instead of nationally.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Section 2. Regional Overview // November 2023

Figure 2-5. Growth in Real Gross Domestic Product (2001 – 2019)

Source: St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, 2022.

The St. Louis MSA is characterized by a strong and diverse economy that supports many of the

region’s top industries and is considered the third most economically diverse metropolitan area

in the United States.

St. Louis Regional Overview, Greater St. Louis, Inc, https://greaterstlinc.com/region/regional-overview

15 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

3. Airport Setting

The following subsections detail the Airport’s unique history, highlight the activity and demand

changes projected over the next 20 years, and present case examples of airports and

communities similar to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

3.1. Historic Activity

St. Louis Lambert International Airport has a rich and productive history, supporting military and

civilian aviation needs since the inception of air travel. In addition to supporting these essential

aviation needs, the Airport has a long history of aircraft manufacturing, which began in 1939 and

continues to this day. The productivity of the Airport garnered positive public support time and

again, as voters continually approved bond issues for the advancement of the Airport over time.

The Airport is named after Albert Bond Lambert, who learned to fly with the Wright Brothers,

received his pilot’s license in 1911, and served in the U.S. Army in World War I. Major Lambert,

in partnership with the Missouri Aeronautical Society, leased 170 acres of farmland in St. Louis

County in 1920, and leveled the land to build an air strip and hangar. Major Lambert brought the

1923 International Air Races to St. Louis, and a young Charles Lindbergh flew to St. Louis for

the races and remained there after to be a flying instructor. It was during this time that the

Airport earned its name “Lambert St. Louis Flying Field.” In 1925, the Post Office awarded

William Robertson, the Commander of the National Guard’s 110

Observation Squadron

located at the Airport, with the airmail contract for service between Chicago and St. Louis, with

Charles Lindbergh as the chief pilot for the route. This Chicago to St. Louis airmail route is the

earliest predecessor of American Airlines.

The Airport captured the interest and hearts of the community and by 1928, a two-million-dollar

bond was approved by voters and Airport improvements began. By 1929, the Airport supported

the first transcontinental air-rail passenger service, which was inaugurated by Transcontinental

Air Transport, later becoming Transcontinental & Western Airlines. The first passenger terminal

was opened in 1933 and served more than 24,000 passengers that year. In that same year,

William Robertson established the Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company, which

went on to build the Curtiss Robin light airplane and continued to produce a wide range of civil

and military aircraft into the 1930s, at that time operating under the name Curtiss-Wright

Airplane Company.

To support World War II efforts, the McDonnell Aircraft Company was established, and the

Curtiss-Wright aircraft manufacturing plant underwent a $10 million expansion project, which

included a new 6,000-foot-long runway and a new Naval Air Station to train naval aviation

cadets. After the war, the McDonnell Aircraft Company was awarded the contract to design and

produce the Navy’s first jet fighter, the Phantom, which was the first aircraft to take off from a

U.S. Naval air carrier. McDonnell Aircraft Company went on to acquire the Curtiss-Wright plant

and continued designing and producing military aircraft. Eventually, McDonnell Aircraft

Company purchased the factory and land from the City of St. Louis, who used those proceeds

to further Airport improvements, including developing a new 10,000-foot-long runway that could

support the new generation of military aircraft.

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Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Into the early 1950s new generations of passenger airlines entered the market, like Ozark

Airlines, and by the late 1950s Trans World Airlines began offering passenger jet service with

the brand-new Boeing 707, making the Airport the first in the U.S. to offer jet airline service.

McDonnell Aircraft Company continued to produce military aircraft, and ultimately built the

Mercury, a spacecraft NASA used to send the first Americans, Alan Shepard and John Glenn,

into space and in orbit. After this, McDonnell Aircraft Company went on to build several other

spacecrafts for NASA.

In 1971, the Airport was officially named the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. By 1982

TWA made the Airport its principal domestic hub and the Airport facilitated this growth in activity

by constructing Concourse D, which brought the total number of gates at the Airport to 81 by

1985. In 1998, the Federal Aviation Administration supported the development of a new 9,000-

foot-long parallel runway, new taxiways, and other associated improvements needed to serve

the growing aviation activity. In 2001, American Airlines purchased TWA assets and

discontinued their hub presence at the Airport. This resulted in a sharp decline in passenger

enplanements in the early 2000s.

As shown in Figure 3-1, passenger enplanements have not yet returned to levels experienced

in 2000. Between 2000 and 2003 passenger enplanements dropped significantly, which

corresponds with the reductions in aviation activity due to the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist

attacks and economic decline. There was some growth occurring in passenger enplanements

after 2004; however, that period of growth was short lived and by 2007 passenger

enplanements were declining and remained steady until 2014. Loss of hub status and the 2009

Great Recession were limiting factors to the Airport’s growth between 2005 and 2014; however,

by 2015 the Airport was experiencing a steady increase in enplanements. By 2019, the Airport

experienced its most significant period of growth since 2000 and was ranked 34

busiest in the

U.S in 2019.

This return to a growth pattern was cut short due to the impacts of COVID-19,

resulting in a significant drop in enplanements in 2020 experienced by nearly all airports

worldwide. Despite some challenges between 2000 and 2020, the Airport experienced a notable

rebound in activity going into 2021, with just over five million passenger enplanements, trending

toward pre-COVID-19 levels.

History – St. Louis Lambert International Airport, https://www.flystl.com/about-

us/history#:~:text=Louis%20Lambert%20International%20Airport%20is,reaching%20the%20rank%20of%

20Major. (Accessed 2023).

FAA Passenger Boarding Reports (2000-2021), FAA Terminal Area Forecast (1990-1995).

17 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Figure 3-1. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Passenger Enplanements

(2000 – 2021)

Sources: FAA Passenger Boarding Reports (2000-2021); Kimley-Horn, 2023.

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

As shown in Figure 3-2, the historic data for air cargo tonnage from 2004 to 2019 shows that

while air cargo tonnage experienced a moderate decline from 2004 to 2015, this activity started

increasing between 2015 and 2019. While air cargo tonnage did increase from 2015 to 2019,

reaching approximately 80,000 tons, this was still significantly lower than the tonnage for 2004

that peaked at slightly less than 120,000 tons.

Figure 3-2. Historical Trends in Air Cargo Tonnage (Short Tons) 2004 – 2019 from

the St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan

Courtesy of: St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, Chapter 3, Figure 3.4-5, 2022.

19 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

As shown in Figure 3-3, the historic activity for general aviation operations, both itinerant and

local, show an overall decline in activity from 1997 to 2019; however, there is a significant

increase in GA activity between 2001 and 2002, before activity experiences a significant decline

between 2004 and 2009. Since 2009, GA activity has continued to decline but at a much slower

rate than declines experienced prior.

Figure 3-3. Itinerant and Local General Aviation Operations (CY 1997 – 2019) from

the St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan

Courtesy of: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Master Plan, Chapter 3, Figure 3.5-3.

20 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

3.2. Master Plan Forecast Activity Summary

According to recent forecasts developed as a part of the St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Master Plan (initiated in 2020 and nearing completion in 2023), complete recovery from the

impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may occur on a three-, five-, or nine-year cycle, with the

longer-term forecasts differing based on the three recovery scenarios. All three recovery

scenarios project annual enplanements will reach 9.5 million by 2040, with the three-year

recovery scenario forecast indicating that annual enplanements could reach 10.6 million by

2040, as shown in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4. Forecast of the Airport’s Enplanements Under Three Scenarios from

the St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan

Sources: St. Louis Airport Authority (St. Louis Lambert International Airport airport records); Transportation Security Administration

(passenger screening data); Unison Consulting, Inc (forecasts), June 2020. Courtesy of: St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Master Plan, Chapter 3, Figure 3.3-33

21 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

A three-scenario recovery process was also developed to project future growth in air cargo

tonnage at the Airport from 2020 to 2040, as shown in Figure 3-5. All three scenarios predict

that air cargo tonnage at the Airport will exceed pre-covid levels by approximately 2030, with the

three-year recovery scenario, presented as Scenario One, showing that air cargo tonnage could

exceed 100,000 tons by 2040. The more conservative recovery scenarios indicate that air cargo

tonnage could exceed 94,000 tons and 87,000 tons in Scenario Two (five-year recovery) and

Scenario Three (nine-year recovery), respectively.

Figure 3-5. Air Cargo Forecast Tonnage by Scenario - All Carriers

(FY 2018 – 2040)

Courtesy of: St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, Chapter 3, Figure 3.4-9.

22 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

The St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan also included GA operations forecast for

itinerant and local operations from 2020 through 2040. Table 3-1 provides a summary of those

projections and indicates that both GA itinerant and local operations are anticipated to increase

to pre-COVID-19 levels by approximately 2024 and remain steady over the remainder of the

forecast period.

Table 3-1. Forecast GA Operations at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, FY

Basis

Activity

Actual Forecast

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2030 2040

Operations

- Local

6,416 6,110 6,110 6,110 6,110 6,416 6,416 6,416 6,416

Operations

- Itinerant

621 318 318 318 318 621 621 621 621

GA –

Operations

Total

7,037 6,428 6,428 6,428 6,428 7,037 7,037 7,037 7,037

Sources: St. Louis Lambert International Airport Authority, St. Louis Lambert International Airport Traffic Reports, 2020, Union

Consulting, Inc, June 2020. Courtesy of: St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, Chapter 3, Table 3.5-1.

3.3. Similar Airport Comparison

The saying “if you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport” summarizes the notion that no

two airports are the same and each facility is shaped by a unique history as well as the

communities served by the airport. The physical size, ownership, operational composition, user

types, passenger demand, regional economics and transportation system, nearby airports, and

more can impact how an airport is developed over time and how it will adjust to changing

socioeconomic conditions.

While no two airports are the same, they can be impacted by similar events and conditions.

Case examples were developed to highlight the histories of four airports considered similar to

St. Louis Lambert International Airport and how they overcame a variety of challenges (such as

airline de-hubbing) to be the resilient transportation assets they are today. Those four airports

are:

 Pittsburgh International Airport

 Nashville International Airport

 Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

 Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Table 3-2 provides a high-level comparison of the size and activity at St. Louis Lambert

International Airport and the four case example airports. The comparison identifies the airports’

FAA National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems hub-size, which is dictated by the number of

annual enplanements an airport has, with large hub airports experiencing higher number of

23 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

passenger enplanements than medium hub airports. In addition, the airports’ passenger

rankings and air cargo rankings based on Calendar Year 2021 data are presented. These

rankings are sourced from two FAA reports:

 CY 2021 Passenger Boarding Data at all commercial service airports

 CY 2021 All-Cargo Airports by Landed Weight at all qualifying cargo airports

Table 3-2. Comparative Summary between St. Louis Lambert International Airport

and Other Case Example Airports

Airport

(FAA ID)

FAA Hub Size

(2023 – 2027 NPIAS)

Passenger Rankings

(Out of 518 Commercial

Service Airports)

Air Cargo Rankings

(Out of 141 Qualifying

Cargo Airports)

STL Medium 36 57

PIT Medium 48 39

BNA Large 27 68

CVG Medium 49 7

AUS Large 30 47

Sources:

2023-2027 FAA NPIAS Report, 2022.

FAA CY 2021 Enplanements at All Commercial Service Airports, 2022.

FAA CY 2021 Qualifying Cargo Airports, Rank Order, and Percent Change from 2020, 2022.

As shown, St. Louis Lambert International Airport is in the middle range for passenger activity

compared to the case example airports. The range of rankings for air cargo is much larger, with

CVG ranking very high given the air cargo emphasis at this airport with both a DHL and Amazon

Air hub; however, St. Louis Lambert International Airport is ranked in the middle of the

remaining three case example airports.

3.3.1. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Overview

While a full regional overview is presented in Section 2. Regional Overview, Section 2.2, this

section, including Table 3-3 and Table 3-4, provides information specific to the region and the

Airport that is necessary for context and comparison to case example airports.

As shown in Table 3-3, the St. Louis MSA has a population of 2.8 million people and a per

capita income of $67,796, according to estimates provided by Woods and Poole Economics,

Inc. The region supports a diverse economy, with the Greater St. Louis economic development

organization identifying a range of key industries in the area, including advanced manufacturing,

agricultural technology, financial and business services, and more.

24 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Table 3-3. St. Louis Metropolitan Region Overview

Socioeconomic Factor Socioeconomic Data

St. Louis (MO-IL) MSA Population (2022) 2,818,040

St. Louis Per Capita Income (2022) $67,796

Key Industries (2023)

 Advanced Manufacturing

 AgTech

 Bioscience and Health Innovation

 Digital Transformation

 Financial and Business Services

 Geospatial

 Mobilit

and Transportation

Sources:

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, St. Louis MSA, 2022.

Greater St. Louis, Inc. https://greaterstlinc.com/industry-strengths, 2023.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport is served by four runways, including three parallel and

one crosswind, as shown in Figure 3-6.

Figure 3-6. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Aerial

Source: Google Earth, Pro, 2023.

25 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Table 3-4

presents recent activity at the Airport, including more than five million enplanements,

and more than 590 million pounds of landed cargo in 2021. Currently, the Airport offers

commercial air service across 12 different air carriers, who offer nonstop flights to 70

destinations.

Table 3-4. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Airport Activity Overview

Airport Activity Indicator Airport Activity Data

Number of Annual Enplanements (2021) 5,070,471

Landed Cargo Weight in Pounds (2021) 590,883,300

Number of Air Carriers (2023) 12

Number of Nonstop Destinations (2023) 70

Sources:

Federal Aviation Administration – Passenger and All-Cargo Statistics,

https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger, 2021 (Accessed 2023).

Ibid.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport, https://www.flystl.com/flights-and-airlines/non-stop-service, 2023

Ibid.

3.3.2. Pittsburgh International Airport

PIT serves the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania MSA and surrounding regions. According to Woods

and Poole Economics, Inc. population estimates, there are more than 2.5 million people within

the Pittsburgh MSA, as shown in Table 3-5. This table also presents the 2022 PCI for the

Pittsburgh MSA, which is approximately $68,618. The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the area’s

economic development marketing agency, identifies several key industries serving the region.

These diverse industries, shown in Table 3-5, indicate that the Pittsburgh region is no longer

only a “steel city,” but rather is now an incubator for industries related to healthcare, sciences,

business services, and more.

Table 3-5. Pittsburgh Metropolitan Region Overview

Socioeconomic Factor Socioeconomic Data

Pittsburgh (PA) MSA Population (2022) 2,535,538

Pittsburgh Per Capita Income (2022) 68,618

Key Industries (2023)

 Climate Technology and Decarbonization

 Cybersecurity

 Energy

 Life Sciences and Health

 Manufacturing and Distribution

 Robotics and Artificial Intelli

ence

Sources:

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, Pittsburgh MSA, 2022.

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, Pittsburgh MSA, 2022

Thriving Pittsburgh Industries, https://pittsburghregion.org/key-

industries/, 2023.

26 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

PIT is served by four runways, including three parallel runways and one crosswind runway, as

shown in Figure 3-7.

Figure 3-7. Pittsburgh International Airport Aerial

Source: Google Earth, Pro, 2023.

Table 3-6 provides an overview of activity occurring at PIT. According to data published by the

FAA, PIT supported approximately 3.1 million enplanements in 2021, and more than 800 million

pounds of air cargo landed at the airport. The airport also supports 16 different air carriers that

provide nonstop flights to almost 50 destinations.

Table 3-6. PIT Activity Overview

Airport Activity Indicator Airport Activity Data

Number of Annual Enplanements (2021) 3,069,259

Landed Cargo Weight in Pounds (2021) 812,896,728

Number of Air Carriers (2023) 16

Number of Nonstop Destinations (2023) 49

Sources:

1Federal Aviation Administration – Passenger and All-Cargo Statistics,

https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger, 2021 (Accessed 2023).

2 Ibid.

3 Pittsburgh International Airport, https://flypittsburgh.com/, 2023.

4 Ibid.

27 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

PIT was opened in 1952, and by 1987 had embarked on a billion-dollar expansion project that

was made possible due to financial support from U.S. Airways who planned to make PIT their

national hub. By 1992, the expansion project was finished and PIT, in partnership with U.S.

Airways, opened a new terminal that consisted of two main buildings, a landside terminal for

security, ground transportation, and baggage handling, as well as an airside building for

passenger gates, which were connected via the PIT People Mover, an underground automated

train system. The new terminal offered 100 gates and, in its prime, offered nonstop flights to

Paris, France; London, England; and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as multiple daily nonstop

flights to locations in California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, and to

Seattle, Washington. The airport also offered five or more daily flights to nearby cities, including

Huntington, West Virginia, as well as State College and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

However, a mere 10 years later, the airport never reached the anticipated demand to utilize all

100 gates provided by the 1987 expansion, due in part to the decline in aviation activity in the

aftermath of the September 11

terrorist attacks, and the subsequent departure of U.S. Airways

from PIT. The airline filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and vacated the airport and its airport

properties, which resulted in the loss of 10,000 jobs in the Pittsburgh region. U.S. Airways went

on to focus its service in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Charlotte, North Carolina markets

before merging with American Airlines. The loss of service by U.S. Airways caused a sharp

decline in activity at PIT and the city lost some of its nonstop connections to popular

destinations.

The initial loss of U.S. Airways was devastating; however, it did provide an opportunity for other

airlines to provide service to the region. Specifically, Southwest Airlines established a strong

presence at the airport and is now the airport’s largest carrier. It also created room for more

competition for low-cost carriers and other full-service carriers, in turn providing additional

options at varying price points for travelers. Through this transition in air carriers, the airport no

longer serves as an airline hub or connection point but caters to those travelers originating at

and arriving to Pittsburgh as their final destination.

In 2016, the airport gained a new CEO, who was committed to improving the airport’s

performance after a challenging decade. Since 2016 the airport increased the destinations

served from 37 to 67, doubled the number of air carriers from eight to 16, and experienced a

20% increase in passenger traffic between 2016 and 2020.

Strategic partnerships and a business mindset helped change the status of the airport. For

example, the airport’s CEO, along with the CEO of “Visit Pittsburgh” and other Pittsburgh

business leaders, attended the World Routes conference to rally support for new routes to

Pittsburgh. The close relationships and cooperation with business leaders and tourism agencies

helped to spread awareness of companies that are expanding or coming to the area, which

could be used to leverage and attract new airlines and new routes.

The Pittsburgh Tech Council is also involved in these collaboration efforts by advertising the

appeal of the Pittsburgh region and the airport to businesses and other cities. In turn, the airport

https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/pittsburgh-then-and-now-pittsburgh-international-airport/.

28 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

markets to the tech industry in the area. The cross-industry relationships and collaboration to

market the airport to airlines and large companies is what led to the revival of PIT.

In 2019, partnership-building paid off when the airport secured the return of a British Airways

nonstop flight to London. This route had been on a 20-year hiatus, and while impacts of COVID-

19 suspended the service for a time, it is back and operating. It is anticipated that this flight

alone will generate and contribute more than $50 million annually to the Pittsburgh regional

economy.

The airport recently announced an effort to modernize the airport and terminal in order to right-

size the facility for current and future demand projections. The modernization includes the

elimination of the “two-terminal” system and the PIT People Mover used to carry passengers

from landside to airside, and a reduction in the number of gates down to 51.

Not only did the airport establish intentional and strategic partnerships to grow its commercial

service footprint, but the airport also has worked equally hard to secure a significant air cargo

presence. The airport experienced an almost 80% increase in landed cargo weight between the

five years from 2016 to 2021 and an approximate 13% increase in cargo traffic in the first

quarter of 2022 compared to 2021. In October 2022, the airport was awarded $44 million in

contracts to build a state-of-the-art cargo facility, using 140,000 square feet of the former

landside terminal building. This multi-million-dollar cargo investment is intended to make PIT the

go-to cargo hub for the future.

The airport has experienced many changes in its seven-decade history. Ultimately, partnerships

with key airlines, businesses, industries, and organizations, as well as strategic investments in

airport infrastructure, have led to the revitalization of PIT. The airport continues to serve as a

critical link in the transportation network of the greater Pittsburgh region, for residents and

visitors alike.

3.3.3. Nashville International Airport

As shown in Table 3-7, BNA serves the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA and

surrounding region. According to Woods and Poole Economics, Inc., the population of the

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA is approximately two million people and the PCI

for the area is $71,030. The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce identifies several key

industries in the region which are presented in Table 3-7, and include corporate operations,

music, and entertainment, and more.

https://flypittsburgh.com/acaa-corporate/newsroom/news-releases/british-airways-announces-return-of-

nonstop-service-between-pittsburgh-and-london/.

https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/flying-into-the-future-pit-getting-new-terminal-fewer-gates/.

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/pittsburgh-airport-dedicates-44-million-build-cargo-facility.

29 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Table 3-7. Nashville Metropolitan Region Overview

Socioeconomic Factor Socioeconomic Data

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin (TN)

MSA Population (2022)

2,039,433

Nashville Per Capita Income (2022) $71,030

Key Industries (2023)

 Advanced Manufacturing

 Corporate Operations

 Healthcare

 Music and Entertainment

 Suppl

Chain Mana

emen

Sources:

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA, 2022.

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce – Target Industries, https://www.nashvillechamber.com/economic-development/relocate-or-

expand/target-industries, 2023.

As shown in Figure 3-8, the airport is served by four runways, which include three parallel

runways and one crosswind runway.

Figure 3-8. Nashville International Airport Aerial

Source: Google Earth, Pro, 2023.

30 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

As shown in Table 3-8, BNA supported approximately 7.6 million passenger enplanements in

2021, which is the highest number of enplanements of all the case example airports included in

this report. In addition, approximately 474 million pounds of air cargo landed at the airport in

2021. There are 20 air service carriers operating at the airport, providing nonstop flights to 100

destinations.

Table 3-8. BNA Airport Activity Overview

Airport Activity Indicator Airport Activity Data

Number of Annual Enplanements (2021) 7,594,049

Landed Cargo Weight in Pounds (2021) 474,650,550

Number of Air Carriers (2023) 20

Number of Nonstop Destinations (2023) 100

Sources:

Federal Aviation Administration – Passenger and All-Cargo Statistics, https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/ passenger_

allcargo_stats/passenger, 2021 (Accessed 2023).

Ibid.

Nashville International Airport, https://flynashville.com/, 2023

Ibid.

BNA originally opened in 1937 under the name Berry Field. The airport underwent significant

expansion during World War II to support the United States Army Air Forces’ Airport Transport

Command. After WWII, the United States Army Air Forces gave control of the airport back to the

City of Nashville and by 1958 the City Aviation Department started on a modernization and

expansion project for civil use.

After only a decade, the airport needed another expansion and in 1973, the newly established

Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority produced a long-term growth plan that included a new

terminal and a new parallel runway that would increase capacity and reduce time between

takeoffs and landings. Construction of the new terminal took place between 1984 and 1987, and

a new parallel runway opened in 1989.

During this time, American Airlines invested $115 million in developing a new 15-gate

concourse, which opened in 1986, that would serve to support the American Airlines hub at the

airport. The American Airlines hub benefited the airport by bringing a number of nonstop flights

to many cities across the United States and Canada, as well as offering a nonstop flight to

London. The presence of American Airlines also helped attract large companies to headquarter

in the Nashville area, including Nissan and Saturn Corporation.

Service as an American Airlines hub peaked in 1993 with 265 daily departures to 79 cities;

however, after 1993, flights continually scaled back and by 1995 the American Airlines hub

http://www.nashville-bna.airports-guides.com/bna_history.html.

31 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

closed. American Airlines cited the recession of the early 1990s and the lack of local

passengers as the reason for their departure from the airport.

After the loss of hub status, a “right-sizing” of the airport needed to occur, which included cutting

costs and making strategic decisions about growth. Political, business, and tourism leaders

were spurred into action to identify opportunities to revitalize the city, and its airport. Airport

executives dedicated efforts to lobby and attract new airlines, while city and business leaders

launched marketing campaigns to market Nashville as a prime location to live, vacation, and

conduct business. Local leaders emphasized the absence of state income tax in Tennessee as

a part of their marketing strategy. The city also offered incentives to bring new businesses to the

area. At the same time, Nashville’s long history of being considered “Music City U.S.A.,” named

as such in 1950, and its more recent emergence as a prime destination for leisure travelers,

spurred an economic revival in the area and brought more passengers and increased traffic to

the airport. By 2004, Southwest Airlines began growing its presence at the airport, along with

several other legacy carriers and LCCs. Southwest Airlines has grown to be the airport’s largest

carrier and the airport offers more daily flights currently (38) than at its peak with American

Airlines in 1993.

In 2017 the airport launched a five-year strategic development plan, referred to as “Vision BNA,”

that was informed by the 2017 Master Plan. Vision BNA included a $1.4 billion investment which

resulted in a new concourse (Concourse D), two expanded ticketing wings with their own

security checkpoints, and two new parking garages. Vision BNA also includes a new terminal

lobby, an international arrivals facility, and an on-airport Hilton Hotel, which are still to be

constructed. This development plan was deemed necessary to keep pace with the rapid growth

that Nashville has experienced over recent years. U.S. Census data indicates Nashville has

been the fifth fastest growing metropolitan area in the country over the last five years (from 2016

to 2021). The city attracts new residents due to its thriving economy, and the city’s diverse

industries make it a top U.S. city for job growth.

BNA shares a similar history of changing hub status and air carrier services as experienced at

PIT, along with a later revitalization of activity that resulted from a concerted effort to partner

with businesses and industries that would draw demand back to the airport. These partnerships,

accompanied by a notable uptick in tourism, have positioned the airport for continued growth

and vitality.

3.3.4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

CVG serves the Cincinnati metropolitan area, which includes parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and

Indiana and a population of approximately 2.3 million people, according to 2022 Woods and

Poole Economics, Inc. estimates. The MSA has a PCI of $65,752, as shown in Table 3-9. The

area’s economic development agency, Regional Economic Development Initiative Cincinnati,

identifies four key industries in the region, shown in Table 3-9.

https://www.businessinsider.com/r-former-hub-airports-find-new-life-after-downsizing-2014-03.

https://airport-world.com/the-best-of-nashville/.

32 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Table 3-9. Cincinnati Metropolitan Region Overview

Socioeconomic Factor Socioeconomic Data

Cincinnati (OH-KY-IN) MSA Population (2022) 2,270,796

Cincinnati (OH-KY-IN) Per Capita Income

(2022)

$65,752

Key Industries (2023)

 Bio-health

 Business and Professional Services

 Advanced Manufacturing

 Technolo

Sources:

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, Cincinnati MSA, 2022.

Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Cincinnati – Core Industries, https://redicincinnati.com/#:~:text=REDI%20

Cincinnati%20is%20the%20first,passionate%20about%20the%20Cincinnati%20region, 2023.

There are four runways at CVG, including three parallel runways and one crosswind runway, as

shown in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Aerial

Source: Google Earth, Pro, 2023.

33 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

According to FAA reports for 2021, CVG supported just over three million passenger

enplanements and almost 8.5 billion pounds of air cargo was landed at the airport. As previously

noted, CVG supports the largest cargo activity of all the case example airports. There are 14

different air service providers at the airport that offer nonstop flights to over 50 destinations, as

shown in Table 3-10.

Table 3-10. CVG Airport Activity Overview

Airport Activity Indicator Airport Activity Data

Number of Annual Enplanements (2021) 3,050,597

Landed Cargo Weight in Pounds (2021) 8,478,266,612

Number of Air Carriers (2023) 14

Number of Nonstop Destinations (2023) 51

Sources:

Federal Aviation Administration – Passenger and All-Cargo Statistics, https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/

passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger, 2021 (Accessed 2023).

Ibid.

CVGAirport.com – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, 2023.

Ibid.

CVG was opened in 1947 and serves as the main commercial service airport for the Cincinnati

metropolitan region, including southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. In

the mid-1980s, Delta Air Lines opened a hub at the airport and provided financial support to

construct 22 gates across two terminals. Several years later, Delta invested another $500

million to build a third terminal that included Concourses A, B, and C.

In the 1990s, Delta shifted several of its flights at CVG from mainline to Comair flights. Comair

was a regional airline and owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. This change created the Delta

Connection regional service that still exists today and resulted in almost double the passenger

traffic within a decade. At its peak, Delta provided flights to over 130 destinations, including

international destinations like Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Frankfurt, Germany, and handled

over 670 Delta and Delta Connection flights each day.

However, by 2005, Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy, citing a spike in jet fuel prices and

growing competition from LCCs.

Delta flights began to steadily decrease and by 2008, Delta

had vacated their hub at CVG, while continuing to offer a significantly reduced number of flights,

and ultimately acquired Northwest Airlines during a merger acquisition. By 2014, CVG

experienced a 74% decrease in passenger traffic and went from over 600 daily flights to a mere

200 daily flights across all carriers. To account for the decrease in operations, the airport

consolidated all activity into one terminal and tore down the other two terminals by 2016.

https://airlinegeeks.com/2017/06/14/the-death-and-rebirth-of-memphis-mem-and-cincinnati-cvg/.

https://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/delta/.

https://doctoraviation.com/fall-rise-cincinnati-northern-kentucky-airport/.

34 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Around the same time that Delta left their CVG hub, CVG also experienced decreased activities

related to air cargo operations due to the relocation of the DHL headquarters from Cincinnati to

Wilmington, Ohio after DHL acquired Airborne Express in 2003. By 2005, CVG experienced a

nearly 29% decrease in landed cargo weight from the previous year and by 2006, an almost

87% drop in landed cargo weight. In just two short years CVG went from the 15

biggest cargo

carrier to the 101

In 2013, when the airport was continuing to experience decline, it secured its first LCC, with

Frontier Airlines, followed by Allegiant Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Around 2015, the airport

began making strategic decisions to significantly revitalize the airport. For example, to avoid

having one airline control the fate of the airport, a five-year contract was established in 2016

between the airport and Delta, which allowed CVG to retain a majority of the control over

business decisions at the airport. Included in this agreement was CVG’s ability to have more

control over capital projects, whereas before Delta had the power to approve almost all capital

projects and expenditures.

This deal also allowed CVG to retain leftover funds at the end of each year which could be used

in incentive packages to attract more airlines. Moreover, the contract created a more attractive

environment for LCCs and other carriers to come to the airport, creating a more competitive

environment. The deal also included a clause related to cargo carriers and stated that a

minimum amount of space must be leased, or minimum defined annual landed weight needed

to be met, in order for the cargo carrier to be a lessee. This new deal led to DHL returning to the

airport and establishing a “global super hub” at the airport as well as Amazon Air Cargo

constructing a new facility at the airport.

The strategy to revitalize the airport’s facilities was focused on diversifying operations rather

than relying on one airline and creating lease agreements that reserved decision making power

for the airport. Bringing in LCCs, attracting other airlines with financial incentives, and securing a

direct flight from Cincinnati to London, England on British Airways all contributed to the

revitalization of the airport. Moreover, the strategic decisions to bolster air cargo and attract new

cargo carriers helped to bring back the cargo activity that was once a significant part of CVG’s

overall operation. CVG was able to convert its operations from 90% connection trips during

Delta’s hub presence to the current 94% origin and destinations trips across a mix of airlines.

3.3.5. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

AUS serves the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown metropolitan area and surrounding regions in

Texas. According to 2022 Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. estimates, the population of this

metropolitan area is approximately 2.4 million people, and the PCI for the region is $73,027, as

shown in Table 3-11. According to the region’s economic development organization, Austin

Chamber, the area supports a diverse range of key industries, from automotive, to space

technology, financial services, and more.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/06/22/cvg-airlines-agreement/29114783/.

35 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Table 3-11. Austin Metropolitan Region Overview

Socioeconomic Factor Socioeconomic Data

Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown (TX) MSA

Population (2022)

2,398,380

Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown (TX) MSA Per

Capita Income (2022)

$73,027

Key Industries (2023)

 Creative and Digital Media Technology

 Financial Services

 Advanced Manufacturing

 Automotive

 Corporate HQ and Regional Offices

 Data Management

 Life Sciences

 Semiconductors

 Space Technology

 Clean Technolo

Sources:

Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. Data, Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA, 2022.

Austin Chamber – Economic Development – Key Industries, https://www.austinchamber.com/economic-development/key-

industries, 2023.

AUS is served by two parallel runways, shown in Figure 3-10 which is the fewest of all the case

example airports.

36 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

Figure 3-10. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Aerial

Source: Google Earth, Pro, 2023.

As shown in Table 3-12, AUS supported more than 6.6 million enplanements in 2021, according

to data provided by the FAA, which also reports that more than 600 million pounds of landed

cargo weight passed through AUS in 2021. According to the airport website, there are 19 air

carriers operating at AUS, offering nonstop flights to 90 destinations.

Table 3-12. AUS Airport Activity Overview

Airport Activity Indicator Airport Activity Data

Number of Annual Enplanements (2021) 6,666,215

Landed Cargo Weight in Pounds (2021) 607,956,455

Number of Air Carriers (2023) 19

Number of Nonstop Destinations (2023) 90

Sources:

Federal Aviation Administration – Passenger and All-Cargo Statistics,

https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger, 2021 (Accessed 2023).

Ibid.

Austintexas.gov/airport – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, 2023

Ibid.

37 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

AUS opened in 1999 after the former Bergstrom Air Force Base was decommissioned in 1993

and the land was returned to the City of Austin. The airport was the first to be built under the

U.S. Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission and began offering

commercial service to visitors and residents of the Austin area. Unlike the other airports

featured in this report, AUS never served as an airline hub or experienced the rapid decline in

activity due to the loss of hub status. However, the airport did experience a number of other

challenges in its history due to rapid population growth and a surge in demand for air travel

without adequate capacity. In 2014, the airport’s footprint had grown significantly to

accommodate increased demand, and British Airways began offering the first nonstop

transatlantic flight to London, England. By 2015, the airport needed to undergo its first terminal

expansion to support the growing demand. The expansion included an enlarged customs and

immigration facility, two domestic baggage claim belts, and an expanded security checkpoint on

the ticketing level.

In 2017 the Airport began a master planning process, and by 2019, published the AUS 2040

Master Plan, which envisioned the future of the airport including the anticipated doubling of

enplanements that would accompany continued population growth in the area. Since the Master

Plan was developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport took a renewed look at the

original expansion plan to meet the changing needs and frequency of post-pandemic travel. The

airport established the Airport Expansion Development Program which includes initiatives and

developments that are scalable to meet a range of forecasted growth profiles post-pandemic.

Part of the redevelopment plans for the airport call for the removal of the existing South

Terminal (currently leased and managed by a third-party business operator) in order to make

room for a new Midfield Concourse.

The Austin region continues to experience significant and consistent socioeconomic growth. In

2021, Austin made headlines for being a hotspot for startup founders and venture capitalists to

settle. After years of targeted marketing and strategic development decisions, the city is now

considered a second Silicon Valley, operating as its own tech hub. There are several companies

in Austin that surpass a $1 billion valuation, and the city is also home to Tesla, who moved their

headquarters from Silicon Valley, as well as secondary offices for Google, Apple, Oracle,

Amazon, Facebook, and Space X.

One report indicates that 185 people are moving to Austin

each day.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/british-airways-begins-flying-from-austin-texas-marking-

the-first-transatlantic-.

https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-bergstrom-international-airport-

extensive-improvement-plan/269-8fbaf3a7-8ee7-4dfa-b7ee-9a413542b79b.

https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-tech-startups-raise-billions/269-

240d69af-8fc0-4cfb-932d-139edda4a73a.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/06/how-austin-texas-has-evolved-into-a-city-of-unicorns-and-tech-

giants/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAA

AMrIGlPZxnKiyEHj39an8RIr_ykBqcRhMlEBvaN6X95_C32yl8tyY8editjCG6cJYd9DOiISwyD3wQ10ZBFta

4LRjrOgTyFshZYrxiox2yERHzaW971MurBb1fTr0j4vdyYEtK_-

clW0BMQe9kYKyutnw3PcNDPEUkhk5bnTU_i8.

38 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

The surge of new population, thriving business markets, and the vacation appeal of the area

contribute to a growing demand for air travel at the airport. AUS has had to quickly respond to

changes in population and demand for services, and has done so by developing strategic

partnerships, making necessary “right-sizing” decisions, and using the momentum of the rapidly

growing population in the area to drive demand for the airport.

3.3.6. Summary

Table 3-13 presents a comparison of the population within the respective metropolitan areas of

each chosen airport and provides a comparison of airport activity, including enplanements,

landed cargo weight, the number of air carriers, and nonstop destinations offered. As shown,

the St. Louis metropolitan area has the largest population, and the Nashville area has the

smallest population. Despite serving the smallest metropolitan area population, BNA had the

most passenger enplanements in 2021, with approximately 7.6 million enplanements, and the

largest number of air carriers and nonstop destinations. The number of enplanements at St.

Louis Lambert International Airport sits within the middle of the enplanement range, with

approximately five million enplanements. While St. Louis Lambert International Airport had the

fewest air carriers, the Airport offers service to 70 destinations, which is the third most nonstop

destinations offered by the comparison airports. CVG supported the most landed air cargo,

which is to be expected due its large DHL and Amazon Air presence. Landed air cargo weight at

these airports ranged from approximately 474 million pounds to approximately 8.5 million

pounds, with St. Louis Lambert International Airport supporting approximately 590 million

pounds of landed cargo.

Table 3-13. Airport Summary Comparison

Airport

(FAA ID)

MSA

Population

Number of

Annual

Enplanements

Landed Cargo

Weight (lbs)

Number of

Air

Carriers

Number of

Nonstop

Destinations

STL 2,818,040 5,070,471 590,883,300 12 70

PIT 2,535,538 3,069,259 812,896,728 16 49

BNA 2,039,433 7,594,049 474,650,550 20 100

CVG 2,270,796 3,050,597 8,478,266,12 14 51

AUS 2,398,380 6,666,215 607,956,455 19 90

Sources: See Table 3-4 through Table 3-12 for sources for each airport.

When looking at socioeconomic and airport activity for these metropolitan areas and their

airports over a 10-year historic period (2009-2019), it is evident that the economic growth

occurring in Austin and Nashville exceeded the growth occurring in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and

Pittsburgh during that time. Table 3-14 presents the percent growth of four socioeconomic

indicators for the five metropolitan areas associated with the study airports. The socioeconomic

indicators evaluated were population, PCI, employment, and GRP. As shown, the percent

change for Austin and Nashville was higher than the others across all indicators, particularly

GRP with Austin’s metropolitan area experiencing a 57% increase and Nashville’s metropolitan

area experiencing a 47% increase in GRP. Percent changes in population and employment

39 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

were minor across all locations but the metropolitan areas surrounding AUS and BNA still had

the highest percent change for both indicators.

Table 3-14. Historic Comparison of Socioeconomic Across Case Study Airports

Airport

(FAA ID)

Population

Percent Change

(2009 – 2019)

PCI Percent

Change

(2009 – 2019)

Employment

Percent Change

(2009 – 2019)

GRP Percent

Change

(2009 – 2019)

STL

0.04% 28% 0.06% 11%

AUS

0.08% 37% 0.16% 57%

BNA

0.07% 34% 0.13% 47%

CVG

0.05% 30% 0.09% 28%

PIT

0.04% 34% 0.08% 28%

Sources: Woods and Poole Economics, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

While St. Louis may have experienced the lowest percent growth across these indicators during

2009-2019, the region did have the highest overall population, GRP, and employment levels

consistently over the 10-year period compared to the other study metro areas, as shown across

the three charts presented in Figure 3-11. St. Louis did not have the highest consistent PCI so

that indicator is not presented in the following figure.

40 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

1,500

1,700

1,900

2,100

2,300

2,500

2,700

2,900

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Population (in thouands)

Population (2009 – 2019)

STL AUS BNA CVG PIT

Sources: Woods and Poole Economics, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023

$80,000

$90,000

$100,000

$110,000

$120,000

$130,000

$140,000

$150,000

$160,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

GRP (in millions of 2023 dollars)

Gross Regional Product (GRP) (2009 – 2019)

STL AUS BNA CVG PIT

900

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,400

1,500

1,600

1,700

1,800

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Employment (in thousands)

Employment (2009 – 2019)

STL AUS BNA CVG PIT

1,500

1,700

1,900

2,100

2,300

2,500

2,700

2,900

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Population (in thouands)

Population (2009 – 2019)

STL AUS BNA CVG PIT

Figure 3-11. Summary of Historic Socioeconomic Trends Across Study Airports

41 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

St. Louis’s strong and steady economy over the 2009-2019 period created an environment for

aviation activity to remain steady and grow over the 10-year period, despite the challenges

associated with de-hubbing. The Airport’s growth during this period is presented in terms of

annual enplanements in Figure 3-12, which shows stable enplanements between 2010-2014,

before increasing at a rapid rate between 2015 and 2019. AUS and BNA also experienced a

steady and significant increase in annual enplanements during this period, which coincides with

the significant economic growth in those metropolitan areas, as presented previously in Table

3-14. PIT and CVG did not do as well during this period. CVG experienced a significant decline

in annual enplanements between 2009 and 2012 before experiencing some recovery, but still

not reaching former 2009 annual enplanements. PIT similarly experienced some decline in

annual enplanements between 2009 and 2013, before recovering to slightly more than 2009

enplanements by 2018/2019.

Figure 3-12. Historic Enplanements at Comparison Airports

Sources: 2022 FAA TAF; Kimley-Horn, 2022

The case examples presented for PIT, BNA, CVG, and AUS airports demonstrate that

fluctuations in regional and national economies, air service activity, and other external factors

can create challenges for airports to serve changing customer bases and regional stakeholders.

Major events, such as airlines changing their hubs, drastic decreases in air service demand

related to events outside of an airport or community’s control (e.g., pandemics, terrorist attacks,

economic recessions, etc.), significant population growth and associated air service demand

related to business growth and development, and other opportunities and challenges can

change a community’s need for air transportation.

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

9,000,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

STL AUS BNA CVG PIT

42 | Page

Section 3. Airport Setting // November 2023

While most changes aren’t overnight, development at airports takes time from concept through

implementation and airports typically can’t make quick facility changes to adapt. In addition to

STL, the case example airports that experienced both growth and decline had to identify

strategic opportunities to maintain an airport that meets its community’s needs without over or

under developing. Forming partnerships with regional economic development organizations and

other local organizations proved effective for many of the case example airports in rebranding

and attracting new businesses, industries, population, and funding to a region, which in turn

positively impacted the airport. These case examples demonstrate that being flexible and

adaptable to changing environments and being proactive about forming strategic partnerships

can help an airport remain resilient and optimize performance over time.

43 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

4. Economic Methodology and Modeling

The process of calculating the economic impact for St. Louis Lambert International Airport is

based on an industry-standard process that involves collecting data, calculating direct impacts,

modeling the multiplier impacts, and determining the total economic output. The direct,

multiplier, and total impacts are generated from measuring the impacts of core airport activities

including airport administration; airport tenants such as concessionaires, airlines, fixed-base

operators, and rental cars; as well as airport construction, aviation-reliant businesses, and

spending from commercial service and GA visitors. The following subsections define the key

terms necessary to understand economic impact and provide an overview of the data collection

and methodology required for the analysis.

4.1. Key Terms

Several key terms are used to present economic impact, and it is important that these terms are

well understood to accurately interpret the findings of this study. The following subsections

define these key terms.

4.1.1. Economic Impact Categories

Three categories are used to describe the economic impact generated from an airport’s activity.

These terms are defined in Table 4-1, and include direct impacts, as well as the multiplier

impacts comprised of indirect and induced impacts. The multiplier impacts are determined

through use of IMPLAN, an industry-accepted economic modeling program. A detailed

description of IMPLAN and the way that it was used to model economic impacts, including the

multiplier impacts, is presented in Section 4.3.

Table 4-1. Defining Economic Impact Categories

Impact Category Definition

Direct

Initial effects that occur on- and off-airport, including airport operations,

airport and tenant construction, as well as by spending from visitors and by

companies using air transportation services.

Multiplier

Effects

Indirect

Portions of direct revenues used to purchase goods and services from

businesses in the St. Louis MSA. This is sometimes referred to as “supplier

sales.”

Induced

Income earned by workers from direct and supplier sales transactions that

are then spent in the St. Louis MSA. This is sometimes referred to as

“income re-spending.”

Source: Kimley-Horn, 2023.

44 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

The direct impacts are generated by activity stemming from the following activities:

 On-Airport

 Airport Administration and Operations

 Airport Tenants

 Cargo

 Capital Improvements

 Visitor Spending

 Commercial Service Visitors

 GA Visitors

 Off-Airport

 Aviation-related Businesses (Including Parking Operators)

 Aerospace Manufacturing

Each one of these direct impacts generates indirect (supplier sales) and induced impacts

(income re-spending). The sum of these three categories of impact results in the total economic

impact.

4.1.2. Economic Impact Measures

The direct, indirect, induced, and total impact of activity occurring on- and off-airport is

presented using four distinct measures of impact which include: jobs, payroll, value added, and

business revenues. Table 4-2 provides a definition of these measures.

Table 4-2. Defining Economic Impact Measures

Measure Definition

Jobs

Total number of persons employed that are associated with

business revenues and payroll, regardless of whether they are full-

or part-time.

Payroll

Total employment compensation, including wages and benefits.

Payroll is a subset of value added and is also referred to as “labor

income” or “total compensation.”

45 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

Measure Definition

Value Added

Measures the economic productivity of aviation-related businesses

in the study area, calculated as business revenues earned minus

the cost of purchasing foods and services from other businesses.

Value added is a company’s or industry’s contribution to the Gross

Regional Product and includes all labor compensation, profits, and

business taxes paid.

Business

Revenues

Incorporates expenditures needed to administer airports, sales of

goods and services by airport tenants, budget expenditures by

public sector agencies located on airports, cost of capital

expenditures, visitor spending, and sales enabled by air cargo

services. This is sometimes called “output” or even “economic

impact.”

Sources: EBP, Kimley-Horn, 2023,

Jobs are the only measurement not presented in terms of dollars, and instead simply present

the number of employed people. Payroll, value added, and business revenues are presented in

terms of a 2019-dollar value; however it is important to note that these dollar amounts are not

simply summed together to generate total business revenues, also referred to as output. The

reason these measures cannot be added together is because value added is a component of

business revenues and payroll is a further component of value added; therefore, these

measures nest inside one another, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1. Relationship of Payroll, Value Added, and Business Revenues

Source: Kimley-Horn, 2023.

Business

Revenues

Value

Added

Payroll

46 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

The economic impact categories described in Section 4.1.1 are the foundation for the Airport’s

total economic impact, which is then presented through the four economic impact measures

defined in Table 4-2. A graphic representation of how the categories and measures work

together to present economic impact is shown in Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2. St. Louis Lambert International Airport Economic Impact Calculation

Process

Source: Kimley-Horn, 2023

4.2. Data Collection

The accuracy of the St. Louis Lambert International AEIS study relies on collecting a

comprehensive dataset from both primary and secondary sources. The data collected from

primary sources were provided by the Airport, whereas FAA, ESRI Business Analyst, and

IMPLAN were used for the secondary sources. A brief overview of how data was collected for

each component of the study is presented in the following subsections.

4.2.1. On-Airport Activity

As mentioned previously, on-airport activity includes several different components and the data

associated with each component is presented as follows:

Airport Administration: Airport administration data includes employment and payroll

information for airport management staff, staff required to perform airport business operations,

airport maintenance and operations staff, and other staff. In addition to the data collected for St.

47 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

Louis Lambert International Airport employees, information related to contractors who perform

work for the Airport that receive IRS Form 1099-MISC or those that are contracted for

administrative tasks were also included. St. Louis Lambert International Airport staff provided

this information via financial reports and through airport badge counts.

Airport Tenants: Airport tenants is a broad component of on-airport activity and includes

airlines, FBOs, concessionaires, retailers, rental car operators, government agencies, and other

businesses located on-airport. St. Louis Lambert International Airport provided a comprehensive

list of tenant employment via airport badge counts. It was also necessary to identify the industry

types for each airport tenant. Research into each business and coordination with the Airport was

conducted to ensure that industry types assigned to each business were accurate. A close

review of badge information was conducted to remove any duplication between airport

administration and airport tenant employment.

Construction: Construction costs, or capital expenditures, are incurred by the Airport and other

on-airport tenants and were therefore collected for both. St. Louis Lambert International Airport

provided five years of historic capital expenditures data, from 2015 to 2019. The five years of

data were averaged to represent an average year of capital spending, as opposed to reflecting

either an annual high or low outlier caused by schedule, weather, financing, or other factors.

This provides a more even estimate of annual economic impact generated as a result of

construction spending.

It was important that the capital expenditures provided by the Airport represented actual costs

incurred, not simply planned expenses that may not have occurred. The average annual capital

expenditures were treated as direct business revenues because these costs are revenues

received by the companies that perform the work. Then, regional relationships between

construction revenues and jobs, payroll, and value added were used to develop the full profile of

direct impacts resulting from capital expenditures on construction. As discussed in Section 4.3,

IMPLAN is used to identify these regional relationships.

Aerospace Manufacturing: The aerospace manufacturing industry has a significant presence

at the Airport, with two major aerospace manufacturing firms located at the Airport in 2019.

The economic impact of these firms is ultimately included in the final economic impact results;

however, these results are presented separately from other St. Louis Lambert International

Airport impacts to indicate the impact of these businesses alone. Representatives from the

Airport and the aerospace firms were coordinated with directly to collect the necessary data,

which was the number of employees and capital expenditures incurred by the firms during the

study year.

One of the aerospace firms included in this analysis announced plans to close their plant by the end of

2023, however, because they were active on the airfield during the base year of this study, they were

included in the 2019 economic impacts analysis.

48 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

4.2.2. Off-Airport Activity

Off-airport activity included identifying aviation-related businesses within 10 miles of the Airport

and determining the impact of visitors arriving to the area via commercial service or GA. Details

regarding both data collection processes are presented in the following subsections.

4.2.2.1. Aviation-Reliant Businesses

In addition to the businesses located on Airport property at St. Louis Lambert International

Airport, there are other businesses located off-airport that support or rely on the aviation

services provided at St. Louis Lambert International Airport to conduct their business activities.

To identify these off-airport aviation-reliant businesses, a 10-mile buffer around the general

property line of the Airport was established wherein the businesses were assessed for their

likelihood to support aviation activity at the Airport, or otherwise rely on the Airport to carry out

their business operations.

A series of North American Industry Classification System codes and industry types were used

to identify businesses related to or potentially reliant on the aviation industry within the study

area using geographic information systems, as listed in Table 4-3. It is important to note that

while all of these NAICS codes were researched in the analysis, there were not off-airport

businesses identified for each code within the study area.

Table 4-3. NAICS Codes Used in Off-Airport Business Assessment

NAICS Title NAICS Code

Examples of Aviation-Related

Elements within the NAICS Code

Airline Offices 561599

All Other Travel Arrangement and

Reservation Services

Airport Parking 812930 Parking Lots and Garages

Freight Forwarding 488150 Freight Transportation Arrangement

Warehousing 493110 General Warehousing and Storage

Warehousing 493120 Refrigerated Warehousing

Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring

Installation Contractors

238210 Airport Runway Lighting Contractors

Search, Detection, and Navigation 334511

Navigational and Guidance Instruments

Manufacturing

Other Electronic Parts and Equipment

Merchant Wholesalers

423690

Electronic Aircraft Instruments

Merchant Wholesalers

Transportation Equipment and Supplies

(Except Motor Vehicle) Merchant

Wholesalers

423860

Aerospace Equipment and Supplies

Merchant Wholesalers

Petroleum and Petroleum Products

Merchant Wholesalers (Except Bulk

Stations and Terminals)

424720

Fuel, Aircraft, Merchant Wholesalers

(Except Bulk Stations, Terminals)

Motorcycle, ATV, and All Other Motor

Vehicle Dealers

441228 Aircraft Dealers

49 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

NAICS Title NAICS Code

Examples of Aviation-Related

Elements within the NAICS Code

Scheduled Freight Air Transportation 481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation

Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air

Transportation

481212

Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air

Transportation

All Other Transit and Ground Passenger

Transportation

485999

Airport Limousine Services (i.e.,

Shuttle)

Other Airport Operations 488119 Other Airport Operations/Services

Other Support Activities for Air

Transportation

488190 All Aviation Related

Couriers and Express Delivery Services 492110

Air Courier Services (Except

Establishments Operating Under A

Universal Service Obligation)

Commercial Air, Rail, and Water

Transportation Equipment Rental and

Leasing

532411

Aircraft Rental or Leasing; Airplane

Rental or Leasing

Travel Agencies 561510 Travel Management Services

Flight Training 611512 Flight Simulation Training

Other Technical and Trade Schools 611519 Air Traffic Control Schools

Ambulance Services 621910 Air Ambulance Services

Other Electronic and Precision Equipment

Repair and Maintenance

811219

Navigational Instruments and

Maintenance Services

Reupholstery and Furniture Repair 811420 Aircraft Upholstery Repair

Aircraft Engine and Parts Manufacturing 336412 Aircraft Engine Overhauling

Aircraft Manufacturing 336411 Aircraft Rebuilding

Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary

Equipment

336413

Aircraft Propellers and Parts

Manufacturing

Sources: NAICS Association, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

Businesses that were identified with these NAICS codes and within the 10-mile buffer were

reviewed and adjusted to avoid duplicate or inaccurate entries with those identified as on-airport

through previous analysis. To supplement this assessment, other industry reports were provided

by GSL from CoStar and D & B Hoovers to identify businesses that might be aviation-reliant or

aviation-related, and not on the Airport, using a comprehensive list of aviation-related NAICS

and Standard Industrial Classification codes and a targeted key-word search for reports that

didn’t include NAICS or SIC codes. Once the reports were filtered for aviation-related

businesses, an additional review was conducted to remove entries that were duplicative, no

longer valid based on further research, were located on the Airport property (and therefore

already captured as tenants at St. Louis Lambert International Airport), or were businesses

located at other surrounding airports. This analysis resulted in the identification of almost 250

businesses within 10 miles of the Airport that are aviation-reliant or related.

50 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

4.2.2.2. Commercial Service and GA Visitors

Developing estimates for visitor spending impacts required two separate but similar processes

for commercial service and GA visitor impacts. It is important to note that only “true” visitors are

accounted for in the analysis. A true visitor is one who is visiting from outside of the study region

and therefore bringing new money into the community and is assumed to have left the airport

property to spend money beyond the airport. For these true visitors, the actual spending occurs

after they arrive, but inbound activity was examined to focus on those visitors outside the area.

It is important to note that a connecting passenger from outside the study region (one that is

traveling on an airline that stops at the Airport and “connects” to their final destination) would

likely only spend money at the airport and these expenditures are already included in the tenant

impacts (such as concessionaires) and therefore not double-counted as visitor impacts.

Commercial Service: To model the spending impacts of true visitors departing from St. Louis

via scheduled air service at the Airport, two inputs were required. First was identifying the

number of passengers on inbound flights who are true visitors, and the second was estimating

how much each of those visitors spent during their time in the area. According to the Airline

Data Inc. report that was acquired for this analysis, there were 2,447,564 passengers departing

from the Airport (via domestic and international flights) who were considered true visitors in

2019. To estimate the amount being spent by the average visitor, a review of AEISs from five

peer airports was conducted. The average per commercial visitor spending amount based on

review of peer airports was $692, which was selected for use as the commercial per visitor

spend for the Airport.

GA: To model the spending impacts of GA visitors departing from St. Louis via the Airport, the

same inputs needed for the commercial service analysis were required, which were, identifying

the number of passengers on inbound flights considered true visitors (even though the focus is

on departing passengers, after they spent money), and the second is estimating how much

each of those visitors spent during their time in the area. To identify the number of GA visitors

departing from the area via the Airport, a 2019 dataset was purchased from Flight Aware which

includes information on GA operations, including the aircraft tail number, type, owner, origin,

destination, departure, and arrival time. This information was filtered several times to arrive at

the number of true visitors departing via GA to St. Louis Lambert International Airport:

1. Only departing flights were considered so visitors were not double counted in the

assessment. (Note: visitors arrive, spend money, then depart so we can only look at

either departures or arrivals, not total operations.)

2. Each aircraft type was assigned a seating capacity based on the make and model.

3. A load factor was applied to reflect industry averages for private GA activity.

This resulted in an estimate of 42,024 visitors departing from the area via GA at the Airport in

2019. As mentioned earlier, a review of recently published AEISs from peer airports was

conducted to determine an average spending amount per commercial service visitor. This same

analysis was conducted to determine the average spending amount per visitor departing via GA.

This review identified an average spend per GA visitor of $252, which was selected for use as

the GA per visitor spend for St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

51 | Page

Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

4.2.3. Tax Impacts

Included in this analysis is also a presentation of the tax impacts generated from both on- and

off-airport activity, including airport administration, tenants, capital expenditures, aerospace

manufacturing, visitor spending, and off-airport reliant businesses. It is important to note that St.

Louis Lambert International Airport is an Enterprise Fund Department of the City of St. Louis. It

is wholly supported by airport user charges. No general fund revenues are used for the

operation, administration, promotion, or maintenance of airport facilities. Tax impacts were

determined at the city, special district, county, state, and federal level, considering the 15-county

study region. Special districts refer to school districts, fire districts, utility districts, and other. No

data specific to tax impacts were collected from the Airport or other primary sources. Instead,

the data collected related to other activities presented in Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2, is used to

estimate tax impacts based on the results determined by IMPLAN. IMPLAN is explained in more

detail in Section 4.3.1. More information regarding the types of taxes included in the tax

analysis is presented in Section 5.3.

4.2.4. Supplier Diversity Program

In addition to the on- and off-airport activity data described in Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2, the St.

Louis Lambert International AEIS included economic impact evaluations related to the Airport’s

Supplier Diversity Program in 2019. It is important to note that the impacts of the Supplier

Diversity Program are not in addition to other impacts; instead, the results of this analysis

demonstrate the amount, or percentage, of impact that can be attributed to the Supplier

Diversity Program.

The program is divided into two main categories that make up the diverse business enterprise

activity. Those categories are women’s business enterprises and minority business enterprises,

and expenditures for each category include capital expenditures, professional services, and

service contracts. Annual reports developed by St. Louis Lambert International Airport were

used to identify the amount of and percent of the Airport’s output that is attributable to

businesses within the Supplier Diversity Program. A percentage breakdown of Supplier Diversity

Program award or revenue amounts by industry was also provided by the Airport.

4.3. Economic Modeling Process

As previously noted, the economic impact comprises direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

Determining the indirect and induced impacts of the Airport’s direct economic activity requires

an economic modelling process, as it is not feasible to collect data from primary sources for all

suppliers that support the Airport, nor is it feasible to collect data from every individual being

paid wages that are a result of spending by those employed at St. Louis Lambert International

Airport or providing supplies to businesses and activities at the Airport. IMPLAN, the most

widely used input-output economic model in the United States, was used for the economic

modelling process. IMPLAN is built using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of

Labor Statistics, U.S. Census, and U.S. Department of Commerce. More information regarding

the use of the IMPLAN model and the industry sectoring process required to determine the

economic impact of the Airport is presented in the following subsections.

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Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

4.3.1. Use of IMPLAN Model

IMPLAN Version 6.4 was used to calculate the annual economic impact of the Airport in 2019.

The model reflects the current economic measures, such as jobs, payroll, value added, and

business revenues, for 546 industry classifications. These IMPLAN industry classifications

roughly correspond to two- and five-digit industry groups recognized in the NAICS. The IMPLAN

model was built to incorporate indirect and induced effects for the 15-county region that makes

up the St. Louis MSA. The data collected from primary sources is input into the IMPLAN model,

and then the IMPLAN model can be used to complete the following four steps:

1. Fill in data gaps to estimate direct impacts: IMPLAN estimates payroll and business

revenues for the airport administration, tenants, and budget expenditures when only

employment data was provided. IMPLAN was also used to determine employment and

payroll values using visitor spending amounts and total capital expenditure spending. The

payroll, business sales, and expenditures per worker ratios are derived primarily from

county-specific U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Labor data sets

calibrated in the model. These ratios reflect a measure of productivity (business output per

employee) and income levels based on the number of jobs for each industry on-airport,

including capital expenditures, and in hospitality sectors (for visitor spending). Payroll was

calculated for tenants or contractors using IMPLAN and was calculated based on average

payroll per worker by industry and average of the 15 counties included in the Airport’s

region.

2. Calculate value added: This step is described in more detail in Section 4.1.2.

3. Apply retail margining: While spending on retail reflects the value of an item sold, only a

portion is actual revenue for the retail store. This portion, referred to as margin costs,

reflects the “mark-up” value that retail stores add to the price of goods to cover their

operating costs and profit. Only the mark-up produces revenue and economic activity for

local retailers. Revenue generated by that mark-up supports employee payroll and

operating costs of the business (e.g., rents, utilities, capital, and other expenses), not the

gross revenue collected by the retail business or industry. To isolate the revenues that

accrue to retailers, the margin percentage was applied to the value of all retail goods sold.

It is important to note that, for the purpose of this analysis, retail margining only occurred

for visitor spending impacts and retail tenant impacts, when either the number of

employees or sales revenue data was available. Applying retail margining to visitor

spending impacts and retail tenant impacts allows for a more accurate estimate of the jobs

and payroll estimates, which would be overinflated if output was not adjusted to account

for retail margining.

4. Derive multiplier impacts: IMPLAN’s input/output model traces the flows of money in an

economy of varying sizes by the patterns of industry purchases and sales with other

industries (for indirect impacts) and householding spending (for induced effects). These

patterns help explain how revenues earned in direct transactions have additional impacts

in an economy. At each level, IMPLAN is used to trace the circulation of business

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Section 4. Economic Methodology and Modeling // November 2023

revenues to calculate the extent that supplier purchases and income respending support

jobs and payroll for the people in the St. Louis region, additional revenues for businesses,

and additional value added.

Multiplier impacts begin with businesses on-airport or those engaged directly with visitors (i.e.,

hospitality services) that use part of their gross revenues to purchase goods and services from

other businesses. For example, a restaurant serving airport users may buy produce from

farmers, dry goods from wholesalers, office equipment at stores or manufacturers, and pay for

accounting services. To the extent that these purchases stay in the study region, they provide

business revenues to other businesses in the St. Louis region or beyond. These revenues are

then used by businesses in the supply chain in part to hire workers and pay them wages, and to

purchase additional business supplies. Successive rounds of supplier sales occur until the

dollars are expelled out of the region, then the dollars are lost and no longer part of the

multiplier impacts. Similarly, workers at directly affected businesses or those part of the supply

chain of the direct businesses use their wages to purchase goods and services in the St. Louis

MSA. Purchases run the full gamut of consumer spending, ranging from furniture to health care

and groceries, providing business revenues from income re-spending if the dollars used for the

purchases stay in the region.

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5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community

Benefits

This section presents the findings of the annual economic impact of St. Louis Lambert

International Airport based on 2019 information and is considered to reflect current economic

contributions of the Airport given the near return of activity to 2019 levels. The results are

presented by direct, multiplier, and total impacts for on-airport activity, off-airport activity, and

combined or total impacts of both on- and off-airport activity. This section also presents the

findings of the tax impact analysis and presents examples of how area businesses rely on the

Airport, demonstrating the social value of the Airport to the region. Beyond the economic

contributions, the community benefits of the Airport to three specific businesses in the region

are outlined. These businesses offered their input on the importance of the Airport to their

operation, including how they utilize and rely upon the Airport.

5.1. 2019 On-Airport Impacts

As presented in Section 4.2.1 on-airport impacts are generated by the economic activity

occurring at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, such as airport-sponsored employment;

tenant employment, including airlines, FBOs, concessionaires, and other on-airport businesses;

and capital expenditures incurred by the Airport or tenants. In addition, while presented

separately, on-airport impacts also include the aerospace manufacturing industry that is present

onsite at the Airport.

5.1.1. 2019 On-Airport Direct Impacts

In 2019, the Airport employed just under 500 individuals that are responsible for maintaining

operations and supporting other business activities occurring at the Airport, resulting in

approximately $39.1 million in payroll. Outside of the Airport-sponsored employment, the Airport

also supports over 250 additional jobs due to the services they contract out, such as for

mechanical services, janitorial services, maintenance needs, and other professional services.

Beyond Airport staff and contract employment, the Airport has more than 300 tenants, from

airlines to FBOs, and concessionaires to manufacturers. These tenants contribute more than

6,250 employees at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, generating approximately $405.0

million in payroll. It is important to note that the impacts of airport tenants also include their

capital expenditure impacts. Moreover, the on-airport construction projects, also referred to as

capital expenditures, conducted by the Airport generated an additional 166 jobs.

As shown in Table 5-1, the combined direct impacts of St. Louis Lambert International Airport

employment, contract services, tenant employment and construction, and on-airport

construction employment resulted in a total of 7,160 jobs, which generated approximately

$466.3 million in payroll. These activities also generated $943.7 million in value-added impacts

and nearly $1.7 billion in business revenues. Additional direct impacts generated from the on-

airport aerospace manufacturing industry resulted in over 16,800 additional jobs, generating

approximately $2.7 billion in payroll. When combined, activity from St. Louis Lambert

International Airport and tenant employment, on-airport construction, and aerospace

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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manufacturing results in nearly 24,000 direct jobs and approximately $3.2 billion in

payroll. In 2019 these combined on-airport activities contributed nearly $3.2 billion of

value added to the region’s GRP and generated $14.9 billion in business revenues.

Table 5-1. 2019 On-Airport Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration 741 $50,363,000 $85,850,000 $170,700,000

Airport Employees 487 $39,064,000 $71,835,000 $144,194,000

Airport Contracted Services 254 $11,299,000 $14,015,000 $26,506,000

Airport Tenants* 6,254 $405,024,000 $845,434,000 $1,483,838,000

Airport Capital Expenditures 166 $10,901,000 $12,437,000 $25,190,000

Subtotal Direct On-Airport 7,160 $466,288,000 $943,721,000 $1,679,728,000

Aerospace Manufacturing** 16,803 $2,722,682,000 $2,239,067,000 $13,234,609,000

2019 Total On-Airport Direct

Impacts

23,964 $3,188,970,000 $3,182,788,000 $14,914,337,000

Notes: *Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the

major on-airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars

are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

5.1.2. 2019 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts

Multiplier impacts are generated because of the distribution and recirculation of direct impacts

from the on-airport activity presented in Section 5.1.1. The 2019 indirect and induced impacts

(multiplier impacts) of on-airport activity are presented in Table 5-2. The induced impacts are

higher than the indirect impacts across all on-airport categories. Activities related to airport

administration, airport tenants, and airport capital expenditures generated over 4,000 jobs from

indirect impacts and more than 4,400 jobs from induced impacts, totaling almost 8,500 jobs from

multiplier impacts. These jobs supported approximately $490.3 million in payroll and

approximately $1.6 billion in business revenues, which added $848.1 million in value to the

GRP. The multiplier impacts of the aerospace manufacturing activity occurring on-airport

supported over 36,500 jobs and approximately $2.3 billion in payroll. When all the on-airport

activity is considered, including aerospace manufacturing, there are more than 45,000

jobs that are attributable to the multiplier impacts of activity occurring at the Airport,

which corresponds with $2.8 billion in payroll, $4.6 billion in value added, and almost

$8.4 billion in business revenues.

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Table 5-2. 2019 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration

Indirect 358 $25,977,000 $55,752,000 $105,761,000

Induced 413 $24,844,000 $65,977,000 $114,421,000

Airport Employees

Indirect 283 $21,323,000 $48,603,000 $93,245,000

Induced 314 $19,643,000 $56,460,000 $97,923,000

Airport Contracted

Services

Indirect 75 $4,654,000 $7,018,000 $12,576,000

Induced 100 $5,201,000 $9,153,000 $15,874,000

Airport Tenants*

Indirect 3,644 $225,751,000 $350,424,000 $682,773,000

Induced 3,933 $205,536,000 $361,767,000 $627,384,000

Airport Capital

Expenditures

Indirect 53 $3,505,000 $5,925,000 $11,335,000

Induced 90 $4,715,000 $8,286,000 $14,362,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Indirect Impacts

N/A 4,055 $255,233,000 $412,101,000 $799,869,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Induced Impacts

N/A 4,437 $235,095,000 $436,030,000 $756,167,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Multiplier Impacts

N/A 8,492 $490,328,000 $848,131,000 $1,556,036,000

Aerospace

Manufacturing**

Indirect 12,908 $1,077,851,000 $1,580,892,000 $3,048,919,000

Induced 23,657 $1,235,914,000 $2,176,511,000 $3,774,631,000

Total On-Airport

Indirect Impacts

N/A 16,963 $1,333,084,000 $1,992,993,000 $3,848,788,000

Total On-Airport

Induced Impacts

N/A 28,094 $1,471,009,000 $2,612,541,000 $4,530,798,000

2019 Total On-Airport

Multiplier Impacts

N/A 45,057 $2,804,093,000 $4,605,534,000 $8,379,586,000

Notes: *Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the

major on-airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars

are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

5.1.3. 2019 Total On-Airport Activity Impacts

The total economic impact of St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s on-airport activity is a sum

of the direct and multiplier impacts previously presented. Table 5-3 presents the total 2019

impacts of on-airport activity at the Airport by category. More than 15,600 jobs are attributable to

airport administration, airport tenants, and airport capital expenditures, generating almost $1.0

billion in payroll. As shown, there are more than 69,000 jobs attributable to the direct and

multiplier impacts of all on-airport activity, including the aerospace manufacturing

activity at the Airport. When the aerospace manufacturing activity is included, on-airport

activity supports approximately $6.0 billion in payroll, generating approximately $23.3

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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billion in business revenues, which resulted in approximately $7.8 billion in value added

to the GRP.

Table 5-3. 2019 On-Airport Total Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration 1,512 $101,184,000 $207,578,000 $390,882,000

Airport Employees 1,083 $80,030,000 $177,392,000 $335,926,000

Airport Contracted Services 428 $21,154,000 $30,186,000 $54,956,000

Airport Tenants* 13,831 $836,310,000 $1,557,626,000 $2,793,995,000

Airport Capital Expenditures 309 $19,121,000 $26,647,000 $50,887,000

Subtotal On-Airport 15,652 $956,615,000 $1,791,851,000 $3,235,764,000

Aerospace Manufacturing** 53,368 $5,036,447,000 $5,996,471,000 $20,058,159,000

2019 Total On-Airport Impacts 69,021 $5,993,062,000 $7,788,322,000 $23,293,923,000

Notes: *Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the

major on-airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars

are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

5.2. 2019 Off-Airport Impacts

As presented in Section 4.2.2, off-airport impacts include economic activity associated with

businesses that are aviation-reliant located away from the Airport as well as activity from visitors

travelling from out of the area into St. Louis Lambert International Airport and spending money

in the community. These visitors may travel via GA or commercial service. The follow

subsections present the 2019 direct, multiplier, and total impacts associated with these activity

categories, which are presented both separately and combined.

5.2.1. 2019 Off-Airport Direct Impacts

5.2.1.1. Aviation-Reliant Businesses

The 247 businesses identified in the St. Louis metropolitan region that rely on the Airport or

support its activities employ approximately 3,500 people, which generate approximately $227.1

million in payroll, as shown in Table 5-4. The business revenues generated from the off-

airport aviation-reliant businesses is slightly less than $759.0 million, contributing

approximately $273.6 million in value added to the region’s GRP.

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Table 5-4. 2019 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Total Aviation-Reliant

Businesses Direct Impacts

3,518 $227,073,000 $273,623,000 $758,852,000

Notes: Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023;

NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

5.2.1.2. Commercial Service and GA Visitors

As shown in Table 5-5, the nearly 2.5 million commercial service visitors and 42,000 GA visitors

supported just over 18,000 and 110 jobs, respectively. The jobs associated with the commercial

service visitors generated approximately $537.9 million in payroll, $793.9 million in value added, and

almost $1.4 billion in business revenues. The jobs associated with GA visitors generated

approximately $3.4 million in payroll, almost $5.0 million in value added, and $8.6 million in business

revenues. When combined, the total direct visitor spending impacts generated slightly less

than $1.4 billion in business revenues for the St. Louis metropolitan region, which is

associated with over 18,100 jobs, $541.2 million in payroll, and $798.9 million in value-added

benefits.

Table 5-5. 2019 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Commercial Service 18,001 $537,854,000 $793,908,000 $1,376,990,000

GA 113 $3,363,000 $4,964,000 $8,610,000

2019 Total Visitor Spending

Direct Impacts

18,114 $541,217,000 $798,872,000 $1,385,600,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023

5.2.2. 2019 Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts

5.2.2.1. Aviation-Reliant Businesses

As shown in Table 5-6, the indirect impacts of the off-airport aviation-reliant businesses contribute

nearly 1,600 jobs to the St. Louis metropolitan region, which is slightly less than the induced impacts of

this off-airport activity, which generated nearly 2,100 jobs. When combined, the multiplier impacts

of aviation-reliant businesses support over 3,600 jobs and approximately $212.0 million in

payroll. The multiplier impacts of these aviation-reliant businesses also produced almost

$626.5 million in business revenues, which corresponds with approximately $346.5 million in

value added to the GRP.

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Table 5-6. 2019 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Aviation-Reliant Businesses

Indirect 1,569 $104,106,000 $156,691,000 $297,243,000

Induced 2,064 $107,841,000 $189,848,000 $329,244,000

2019 Total Aviation Reliant

Businesses Multiplier

Impacts

N/A 3,633 $211,947,000 $346,539,000 $626,487,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023;

Kimley-Horn, 2023

5.2.2.2. Commercial Service and GA Visitors

Table 5-7 presents the induced, indirect, and combined multiplier impacts related to commercial

service and GA visitor spending. Given that more visitors travel to St. Louis via scheduled air

service, the indirect and induced impacts of commercial service visitor spending is higher than

the indirect and induced impacts of GA visitor spending. When combined, the multiplier

impacts of visitors travelling into the Airport via commercial service or GA result in more

than 8,500 jobs, which generated $477.8 million in payroll. The visitor spending multiplier

impacts contributed $795.6 million in value-added benefits, resulting in business

revenues of approximately $1.4 billion.

Table 5-7. 2019 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Commercial Service

Indirect 3,792 $226,090,000 $352,371,000 $672,885,000

Induced 4,684 $248,702,000 $438,232,000 $757,789,000

Indirect 24 $1,414,000 $2,203,000 $4,207,000

Induced 29 $1,555,000 $2,740,000 $4,738,000

Total Visitor Spending

Indirect Impacts

N/A 3,816 $227,504,000 $354,574,000 $677,092,000

Total Visitor Spending

Induced Impacts

N/A 4,713 $250,257,000 $440,972,000 $762,527,000

2019 Total Visitor

Spending Multiplier

Impacts

N/A 8,529 $477,761,000 $795,546,000 $1,439,619,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023

5.2.3. 2019 Total Off-Airport Impacts

The combined direct and multiplier impacts of off-airport activity, including aviation-

reliant businesses as well as commercial service and GA visitors, generated nearly

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33,800 jobs, with over 26,600 jobs attributable to visitor spending and approximately 7,200 jobs

attributable to aviation-reliant businesses (see Table 5-8). Approximately $4.2 billion in

business revenues were generated from these off-airport impacts, which is also

associated with $2.2 billion in value added and approximately $1.5 billion in payroll.

Table 5-8. 2019 Off-Airport Total Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Aviation-Reliant Businesses 7,151 $439,021,000 $620,162,000 $1,385,339,000

Commercial Service and GA

Visitors

26,643 $1,018,978,000 $1,594,418,000 $2,825,218,000

Commercial Service Visitors 26,477 $1,012,646,000 $1,584,511,000 $2,807,663,000

GA Visitors 166 $6,332,000 $9,907,000 $17,555,000

2019 Off-Airport Total Impacts 33,794 $1,457,999,000 $2,214,580,000 $4,210,557,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B

Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

5.3. 2019 Total Airport Impacts

The total impacts of St. Louis Lambert International Airport are the culmination of the on-airport

and off-airport activity, including the direct, indirect, and induced impacts which were presented

throughout Sections 5.1 and 5.2. As shown in Table 5-9, the total 2019 direct impacts of on-

and off-airport activity contributed almost 45,600 jobs, and the multiplier impacts contributed

more than 57,200 jobs, which results in a total impact of approximately 102,800 jobs. The total

direct impacts of on- and off-airport impacts generated a higher payroll and business revenues

than the multiplier impacts of on- and off-airport impacts. When the 2019 direct and multiplier

impacts are combined, more than 102,800 jobs from on- and off-airport impacts

generated approximately $7.5 billion in payroll, and $27.5 billion in business revenues,

contributing $10.0 billion in value added to the region’s economy, annually as of 2019.

Table 5-9. 2019 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Airport Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Total Direct Impacts 45,596 $3,957,260,000 $4,255,283,000 $17,058,789,000

Total Multiplier Impacts 57,219 $3,493,801,000 $5,747,619,000 $10,445,692,000

Total Indirect Impacts 22,348 $1,664,694,000 $2,504,258,000 $4,823,123,000

Total Induced Impacts 34,871 $1,829,107,000 $3,243,361,000 $5,622,569,000

2019 Total Airport Impacts 102,815 $7,451,061,000 $10,002,902,000 $27,504,480,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019;

NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

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As shown in Table 5-10, almost 42,300 jobs will be supported by total airport impacts,

alone, which results in approximately $2.0 billion in total payroll. Activity associated with

airport impacts added approximately $3.4 billion in value to the GRP, resulting in

approximately $6.1 billion in total business revenues. Included within the category of

“airport impacts” is future airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and

visitor spending impacts. The aerospace manufacturing activity supported almost 53,400 total

jobs, which corresponds with approximately $5.0 billion in payroll, $6.0 billion in value added,

and almost $20.1 billion in business revenues. The impact of off-airport aviation-reliant business

activity resulted in 7,151 jobs added to the St. Louis region, generating $439.0 million in payroll,

and adding approximately $620.2 million in value to the GRP, which generated almost $1.4

billion in business revenues.

Table 5-10. 2019 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Impacts by Activty

Type

Activity Jobs Payroll Value Added Business Revenues

Airport Impacts* 42,295 $1,975,593,000 $3,386,269,000 $6,060,982,000

Aerospace Manufacturing 53,368 $5,036,447,000 $5,996,471,000 $20,058,159,000

Aviation-Reliant Businesses 7,151 $439,021,000 $620,162,000 $1,385,339,000

Total

102,815 $7,451,061,000 $10,002,902,000 $27,504,480,000

Notes: *Includes airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not

sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN

V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; NAICS Association, 2023;

CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

It is important to note that this AEIS, which presents the economic impact of the Airport based

on 2019 data is the first major update since the previous 2013 AEIS for the Airport. The 2013

study was conducted by another consulting firm and was prepared for the St. Louis Airport

Authority. When considering the airport impacts

only, the results of the 2019 study indicates

that total payroll has increased by approximately 100% (approximately $1 billion to $2 billion)

since 2013. The number of jobs that the airport supports has increased by 69% since 2013

(25,000 jobs to 42,295 jobs), according to the results of this current 2019 study. Overall, the

economic impact of the Airport, based on the airport impacts only, is 68% more than the total

impact reported in 2013 (approximately $3.6 billion to $6.1 billion). The impacts of aerospace

manufacturing and aviation-reliant businesses was not included, or accounted for differently, in

the 2013 study and is therefore not included in this comparison between the 2013 and 2019

results.

Airport impacts include the economic contributions made by airport administration, airport capital

expenditures, tenant employment and tenant capital expenditures, and visitor spending. These impacts

do not include contributions made by the on-airport aerospace manufacturing industry or the off-airport

aviation reliant businesses.

The 2013 impacts remained in 2013 dollars for the comparison with 2019 impacts.

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5.4. Supplier Diversity Program Impacts

As mentioned in Section 4.2.4, the Supplier Diversity Program creates opportunities for WBE

and MBE firms, which are both considered under the broader DBE umbrella. St. Louis Lambert

International Airport awards contracts to WBE and MBE businesses related to capital

expenditures, professional services, and service contracts. As such, the impacts of the Supplier

Diversity Program are nested within the airport administration and capital expenditures

activities. As a note, the professional services and service contracts expenditures are

associated specifically with the airport contracted services component of the overall airport

administration impacts. It is important to reiterate that the impacts of the Supplier Diversity

Program are not in addition to the impacts presented in Table 5-9, but rather are included as a

part of the Airport’s total impact, including the direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

Table 5-11 provides a breakdown of the total number of jobs, as well as payroll, value added,

and business revenues associated with the professional services and service contracts of the

WBE and MBE programs. As shown, of the Airport’s total airport contracted services impacts

(including direct, indirect, and induced impacts), nearly 70 jobs, $3.3 million in payroll, and $8.6

million in business revenues are attributable to WBE and MBE firms that participate in the 2019

Supplier Diversity Program.

Table 5-11. 2019 Airport Contracted Services Impacts Attributable to the Airport’s

Supplier Diversity Program

Service Type Program Jobs Payroll

Value

Added

Business

Revenues

Professional Services

WBE 4 $194,000 $277,000 $504,000

MBE 28 $1,400,000 $1,998,000 $3,637,000

WBE & MBE 32 $1,594,000 $2,275,000 $4,141,000

Contract Services

WBE 8 $414,000 $591,000 $1,075,000

MBE 26 $1,304,000 $1,861,000 $3,388,000

WBE & MBE 35 $1,718,000 $2,452,000 $4,463,000

Total for Professional

and Contract

Services

Total WBE 12 $608,000 $868,000 $1,579,000

Total MBE 55 $2,704,000 $3,859,000 $7,025,000

Total WBE &

MBE

67 $3,312,000 $4,727,000 $8,604,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

As shown in Figure 5-1, the WBE and MBE firms on contract for professional services and

contract services account for 16% of the total business revenues associated with St. Louis

Lambert International Airport’s airport contracted services. WBE contracts account for 3% and

MBE contracts account for 13% of the total airport contracted services impacts. As a note, the

results of Figure 5-1 consider the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of airport contracted

services.

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Figure 5-1. 2019 MBE and WBE Contributions to Total Airport Contract Service

Impacts

Sources: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

The impact attributable to the WBE and MBE firms participating in the 2019 Supplier Diversity

Program specific to capital expenditures or construction is shown in Table 5-12. As shown,

approximately 120 of the total jobs associated with St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s

capital expenditure impacts are attributable to the Supplier Diversity Program. Approximately

$19.2 million in total business revenues of the airport capital expenditures impacts are

attributable to the WBE and MBE firms that participated in the 2019 Supplier Diversity Program.

It is important to note that the impacts presented in Table 5-12 account for WBE and MBE

share of direct, indicted, and induced impacts of airport capital expenditures.

Table 5-12. 2019 Airport Capital Expenditure Impacts Attributable to the Airport’s

Supplier Diversity Program

Service Type Program Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Capital Expenditures

WBE 29 $1,783,000 $2,485,000 $4,746,000

MBE 88 $5,419,000 $7,552,000 $14,422,000

WBE & MBE 117 $7,202,000 $10,037,000 $19,168,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars.

Sources: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

84%

13%

Non-Supplier Diversity Program Contrbutions to Total Airport Contract Services

WBE Contribution to Total Airport Contract Services

MBE Contribution to Total Airport Contract Services

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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As shown in Figure 5-2, 37% of the Airport’s total airport capital expenditure impacts are

attributable to the Supplier Diversity Program. WBE firms account for 9% and MBE firms

account for 28% of the total impacts associated with on-airport construction. The results

presented in Figure 5-2 account for the direct, indirect, and induced airport capital expenditure

impacts.

Figure 5-2. 2019 MBE and DBE Contributions to Total Airport Capital Expenditure

Impacts

Sources: St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

5.5. 2019 Tax Impacts

In addition to the 2019 on- and off-airport impacts presented in Sections 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3,

activity occurring on- and off-airport also generates tax revenues for all levels of government,

from the local level, which includes city, special districts and county, as well as at the statewide,

and federal level. The county tax impacts are inclusive of the 15-county study region and the

state taxes include impacts of the jurisdictions within Missouri and Illinois that are included in the

study region. Special districts include school, fire, and other such districts specific to the region,

although not identified separately in the analysis.

Tax revenues are generated from all the activities that created the impacts presented in Section

4.2.1 and 4.2.2, including airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital improvements,

aerospace manufacturing, off-airport reliant businesses, and visitor spending. The taxes

presented in Table 5-13 and Table 5-14 include taxes paid through employee compensation,

taxes on production and imports, other property income, and personal taxes. The tax impacts

63%

28%

Non-Supplier Diversity Program Contrbutions to Total Airport Capital Expenditures

WBE Contribution to Total Airport Capital Expenditures

MBE Contribution to Total Airport Capital Expenditures

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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presented in Table 5-13 and Table 5-14 are considerably higher than the tax impacts presented

in the previous 2013 AEIS developed for the Airport due to the type of taxes included in the

previous analysis, which only included sales tax and earnings tax. It is important to emphasize

that while the Airport is in the City of St. Louis, the taxes generated from its activity go far

beyond the boundaries of the city, and support public expenses at the city, special district,

county, state, and federal level. The City of St. Louis has a unique city earnings tax, which taxes

individuals who work within the City of St. Louis, including those that do not live within the city

boundaries. The revenues generated from the city earnings tax is included within the city tax

impacts presented in Table 5-13 and Table 5-14. It is important to note that different taxes are

levied at different levels of government and each level may or may not collect taxes within the

study region.

The tax impacts presented in Table 5-13 demonstrate tax revenues generated from the direct

impacts associated with employment and business activity associated with the on- and off-

airport activity included in this analysis. As shown, the airport impact category, which includes

the impacts of the airport administration, tenant activity (excluding aerospace manufacturing),

capital expenditures, and visitor spending generated a total of $483.9 million in tax revenues

across all jurisdictions. When combined, all direct airport activity generated approximately

$237.7 million in local tax revenues. Approximately $212.2 million and $762.9 million in tax

revenues were generated at the state and federal level.

Included within the state tax impacts is the tax revenue generated from the sale of jet fuel. The

State of Missouri applies a sales tax on the sale of jet fuel, as opposed to an excise tax. In 2019

alone, the State of Missouri paid approximately $6.8 million towards jet fuel taxes and jet fuel

sales at the Airport accounted for approximately 60% of that, which is approximately $4.1

million. More than $1.2 billion in tax revenue was generated in 2019 from direct on- and

off-airport activity, when considering all levels of taxation.

Table 5-13. 2019 Tax Revenues Generated from Direct On- and Off-Airport Activity

Activity Local State Federal Total

Airport Impacts* $156,529,000 $109,637,000 $217,686,000 $483,851,000

Aerospace Manufacturing $71,657,000 $92,482,000 $501,077,000 $665,216,000

Aviation- Reliant Businesses $9,524,000 $10,113,000 $44,105,000 $63,743,000

2019 Direct Tax Revenues $237,710,000 $212,232,000 $762,868,000 $1,212,810,000

Notes: *Includes airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not sum

due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4,

2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

Table 5-14. Tax Revenues Generated from Total On- and Off-Airport Activity provides an

overview of the total tax revenue impacts related to on- and off-airport activity, which is inclusive

of direct, indirect, and induced impacts. When the multiplier impacts (indirect and induced

impacts) are considered, the tax revenue impacts are approximately doubled across each

activity and taxation level. Federal taxes have the highest tax revenue impacts from on- and off-

airport activity, at almost $1.5 billion. Tax revenues generated at the local level amount to

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approximately $487.7 million. Approximately $431.8 million in tax revenues were generated

at the state level. Approximately $2.4 billion in tax revenues were generated from total

on- and off-airport activity in 2019, which includes direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

Table 5-14. Tax Revenues Generated from Total On- and Off-Airport Activity

Total Impacts Local State Federal Total

Airport Impacts* $232,074,000 $173,927,000 $418,222,000 $824,222,000

Aerospace Manufacturing $231,144,000 $234,634,000 $980,107,000 $1,445,886,000

Aviation-Reliant Businesses $24,455,000 $23,322,000 $88,078,000 $135,855,000

2019 Total Tax Revenues

$487,673,000

$431,883,000 $1,486,407,000 $2,405,963,000

Notes: Impacts presented in Table 5-14 include direct, indirect, and induced impacts. **Includes airport administration, airport

tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded

to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

5.6. Community Benefits

The impacts presented in this section are only one part of the story demonstrating the immense

value that St. Louis Lambert International Airport provides to the surrounding region because

behind those numbers are real people, working across many industries in the region, to provide

goods and services to the MSA. the Airport is a tremendous economic generator, supporting

jobs on and off the Airport, generating payroll, and contributing to the GRP. Moreover, the

Airport is a vital component of the region’s transportation system as it supports the movement of

goods and services and provides transportation opportunities for business and recreational

purposes.

Businesses from all over the country and the world rely on services provided by the Airport,

which is showcased in the business profiles of Bayer, Boeing, and Bunge presented in the

following subsections. These business profiles offer three examples of how the Airport is

supporting global companies that have headquarters in the St. Louis MSA. These examples

represent a few of many stories that could be shared about the way area businesses rely on the

Airport to successfully perform their business operations. Without the Airport, area businesses

would face many challenges related to longer wait times for goods or supplies and longer travel

days due to the loss of critical air service.

5.6.1. Bayer

Bayer is a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company that is a world pioneer in

plant biotechnology and genomics. Bayer is a multifaceted firm, and the combined agriculture

business will have its global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St.

Louis, Missouri. Bayer employs nearly 6,000 people in the St. Louis area across multiple

functions including their Crop Science Division and corporate administration, including finance,

information technology, and communications. Worldwide, the company employs approximately

100,000 people, of which 40% (or 40,000) are in the Crop Science Division. This Division has

primary locations in St. Louis and in Monheim, Germany. The Bayer Crop Science Division

headquarters in St. Louis is responsible for the company’s North American business, which

represents approximately 40% of Bayer’s worldwide business. The St. Louis facility boasts the

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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largest research site within the company’s entire network, accounting for 1,500 research and

development employees out of the company’s total 7,000 R&D employees. Bayer Crop Science

has major AgTech research & development operations in Greater St. Louis, investing $2 billion

annually.

Due to the global nature of Bayer’s Crop Science operation, approximately one-third of the St.

Louis staff (2,000) need to travel frequently for business—often to Germany. When asked about

Bayer’s relationship with the Airport, Bayer representatives said, “We are highly reliant on St.

Louis Lambert International Airport to provide both domestic and international service to get our

staff to major markets with thousands of our team members traveling through St. Louis every

year.”

Employees rely on both domestic and international air service provided by the Airport to reach

clients, other Bayer locations, and to bring vendors and clients to their St. Louis headquarters.

The need for efficient connections between St. Louis and Germany is so important that Bayer

financially supports the nonstop Lufthansa Airlines service to Frankfurt, Germany, in order to

meet the firm’s international travel needs. Recent demand spurred a request from Bayer to

increase existing nonstop service on Lufthansa from three to five days a week. Although some

challenges have prevented the increase in service frequency so far, the financial support of the

Lufthansa service offered at the Airport demonstrates how valuable it is to Bayer operations.

The Germany service frequently reduces travel duration by eliminating connections.

Outside of the Lufthansa service, Bayer also relies on other scheduled air service at the Airport

to access important markets in other parts of North America, South America, Africa, and

Europe. Looking to the future, Bayer is interested in nonstop scheduled service to São Paulo,

Brazil to reach their South American markets. In addition to using commercial service, some

Bayer employees travel via GA when staff need to reach areas without adequate commercial

service options. This minimizes the time needed away from headquarters and eliminates

unnecessary overnight stays.

Bayer’s reliance on the Airport will continue as the region’s economy grows and diversifies, and

their presence expands. The company relies on St. Louis Lambert International Airport to help

promote a well-connected urban environment that offers efficient scheduled air service and a

thriving community. This positions Bayer to recruit and acquire talent from all over the globe

who are willing to locate in St. Louis, knowing they can access air service to reach a variety of

locations to visit family, take vacations, and more. Bayer, along with the broader agriculture

industry in the region including corn and soybean commodity groups and the growing AgTech

industry, greatly depend on the air service offered at the Airport to thrive in their markets and be

resilient in the years to come.

5.6.2. Boeing

The Boeing Company is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is involved in all aspects of

aerospace, including the manufacturing, designing, and selling of all types of aircraft, from fixed

wing to rotorcraft, and rockets to satellites. Boeing has approximately 16,000 employees in the

St. Louis region, and approximately half of them are engineers. It was reported that in 2022, an

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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additional 900 jobs were added at the St. Louis location, with estimates indicating an additional

10,000 new employees will be added to the company, firmwide, in the next year.

The St. Louis Boeing location is co-located at the Airport. Boeing’s St. Louis location primarily

supports the production of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy, which is a

twin-engine, fighter aircraft that can operate from an aircraft carrier. Boeing also supports the

production of the Boeing F-15EX, which is an all-weather, multirole strike fighter produced for

the U.S. Air Force.

Boeing employs a variety of staff to support the production of aircraft. The staff positions at the

St. Louis location are aviation-related and include designers, sheet metal employees, engineers,

and administrative staff; only a small handful of staff, including the aircraft arresting system

specialists, require airside access. The Boeing facility in St. Charles primarily specializes in

weapons and missile production.

The economic impacts of Boeing are spread far across the region and state with more than 350

material and service suppliers across Missouri supporting the aircraft production occurring at the

Airport. In total, Boeing spent approximately $676 million at these suppliers in 2021, with most

of these suppliers located within a 70-mile radius of St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

Boeing is committed to its presence at the Airport, demonstrated by an investment of nearly

$700 million on capital improvements at their St. Louis Lambert International Airport facilities

between 2011 and 2021. Outside of their presence in St. Louis, Boeing’s impact continues to

grow in the region, with a $200 million expansion at the MidAmerica Airport in Illinois, which is

expected to finish by 2023. This facility will be used to develop the MQ-25, which is an

unmanned drone that refuels other aircraft midflight, allowing planes to launch from carriers and

travel further than they otherwise would. The Boeing investment at MidAmerica Airport is likely

to have a ripple effect throughout the region, including the St. Louis area, which is only 40 miles

away from MidAmerica Airport.

According to Boeing representatives, “Boeing’s presence in St. Louis is strong, with 16,000

employees in the St. Louis metropolitan area alone, and future investments being made at the

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, expected to lead to more growth for the region in the future. Our

activity at St. Louis Lambert International Airport is important to the nation’s defense industry.”

Boeing’s two locations in the St. Louis region are significant drivers of economic impact at St.

Louis Lambert International Airport and beyond. Boeing’s operations are highly reliant on Airport

access for testing, development, and mass production. Continued partnership with the Airport is

key to their current and future success.

5.6.3. Bunge

Bunge is a global leader in agribusiness and food and ingredients. From humble beginnings in

1818, the company has grown into a global presence, with more than 300 facilities in over 40

Merrilees, A., “Boeing adds 900 St. Louis jobs, looks to its future. And a new fighter jet.”, St. Louis Dispatch, February

16, 2023. https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/boeing-adds-900-st-louis-jobs-looks-to-its-future-and-a-new-fighter-

jet/article_6bc556b4-5497-595d-808a-

a5b2fdf32ac4.html#:~:text=The%20company%20added%20900%20jobs,what%20those%20aircraft%20will%20be.

(Accessed April 2023).

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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countries and 23,000 employees worldwide. The company started as an import-export trading

company in Amsterdam and over the next 200+ years continued growing their business and

today connect farmers to consumers to sustainably deliver essential food, feed, and fuel to the

world. Bunge is the world’s leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of

specialty plant-based oils and fats. The company works with customers on both ends of the food

supply—partnering with farmers to bring quality products from where they’re grown to where

they’re consumed. At the same time, Bunge collaborates with food customers to develop

tailored and innovative solutions to meet evolving dietary needs and trends in every part of the

world. Bunge works in a variety of markets including animal feed and pet food, bakery and

cereals, beverages, confectionary and snacks, biofuels, nutrition, and more.29

St. Louis served as Bunge’s North America headquarters beginning in 1990. In 2019, the

company announced it was moving its global headquarters from White Plains, New York to St.

Louis to be closer to its operations. Today, St. Louis is home to about 800 Bunge employees –

approximately 750 at the headquarters and another 40 or so at the research and innovation

center located 15 minutes away. Of that, approximately 200 of them travel regularly in support

of business activities. Bunge employees travel for trainings to support operations in other

manufacturing and office locations, and to collaborate with colleagues across the globe. As the

headquarters, St. Louis frequently sends and receives employees from locations in Europe,

South America, Asia-Pacific, and other parts of North America. While the St. Louis headquarters

was designed to house large training sessions, in some instances, Bunge has moved meetings

to Miami, New York, or Toronto as these cities offer more direct international service. As St.

Louis Lambert International Airport continues to expand international commercial airline service

across Europe and South America, Bunge hopes there may be more opportunities to host those

events in St. Louis.

In addition to internal Bunge employee travel, the company also generates travel to the area

from potential and existing customers who often bring in executives to meet with Bunge

executives, tour facilities, test products, and more. These potential and existing customers are

also traveling from locations in other parts of North America, Europe, South America, and Asia-

Pacific. Bunge also recently announced a merger with another global agribusiness, which, if

approved, would add an additional 13,000 employees to the company worldwide. The company

being combined with Bunge complements Bunge’s existing footprint and will likely increase

demand for international air service. Between employees and customers, Bunge invests a

significant amount of money annually to support the travel needs of their company. Considering

that Bunge operates on a global scale, it is no wonder they are reliant on scheduled air service

to conduct their daily business operations.

Bunge has a small private corporate aviation contract; however, Bunge relies on traditional

scheduled airline service for most travel. While Bunge offers flexible work arrangements as part

of its effort to promote a healthy work/life balance and create the best work environment for their

employees, the company also values in-person interactions and the culture of collaboration and

belonging that it creates. Making sure employees have access to frequent and comprehensive

air service is essential to that mission of togetherness. Bunge executives located in St. Louis

Bunge.com

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Section 5. 2019 Airport Economic Contributions and Community Benefits

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believe it is a world-class city and feel the city deserves a world-class airport. Bunge would like

to see the Airport continue to expand nonstop international service to create a world-class

airport so that the company can continue to recruit world-class talent, as well as send and

receive employees and clients from all over the world in the most efficient manner possible.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions

In addition to calculating the annual economic impact of St. Louis Lambert International Airport

based on activity from 2019, this study also estimates the future economic contributions of the

Airport for 2032 based on two future scenarios: 1) completion of the proposed airport

development plan identified in the recent Master Plan

and 2) increases to nonstop

international air service. These scenarios provide an opportunity to estimate the economic

impact of the Airport in 2032 based on increased capacity and demand at the Airport, which

includes additional staff to support more demand, more opportunities for future business

development, and the additional visitors traveling to St. Louis Lambert International Airport via

the expanded international service.

The following subsections provide information on the methodology and assumptions required for

calculating the future impact of the Airport based on the same on- and off-airport activities

presented in Section 5. Due to the increased activity anticipated at the Airport, there will also be

increases to the tax impacts in 2032, which are also presented. It is important to note that the

economic impacts presented in the following sections are based on estimates of activity

occurring on- and off-airport in 2032; however, to provide an even comparison to the results

presented in Section 5, the future impacts are presented in 2019 dollars.

6.1. 2032 On-Airport Impacts

As discussed in Section 4.2.1, on-airport activities include airport administration (including

airport employees and airport contracted services), airport tenants, airport capital expenditures,

and the major aerospace manufacturing presence at the Airport. By 2032 it can be assumed

that impacts associated with each of these activities will be higher than impacts in 2019 due to

growth associated with airport operations, airport tenants

, and on-airport construction. To

estimate the growth of airport administration and airport tenants several factors were

considered, including growth in passengers, operations, changes to industries, and Moody’s

Analytics growth rate projections for 2032. Moody’s Analytics is an industry-accepted financial

intelligence and analytics tool that develops estimates for future economic conditions. The future

impacts for the major on-airport aerospace industry presence were not developed based on

industry assumptions or trends, and instead, were developed based on publicly available

documentation regarding future employment levels as well as planned future expansion and

construction projects.

Impacts of airport capital expenditures in 2032 were developed based on the preferred airport

development plan that was developed as part of the recent St. Louis Lambert International

Airport Master Plan. The purpose of the preferred airport development plan is to identify the

capital improvements necessary for the Airport to meet projected future demand, as identified in

the Master Plan’s forecasting efforts. The preferred airport development plan was developed

using an alternatives analysis process that built upon the Master Plan’s FAA-approved forecast

and is intended to accommodate the long-term facility needs. The preferred airport development

Estimated 2032 impacts assume the completion of the Airport’s preferred airport development plan.

Capital expenditures incurred by tenants were included in this analysis.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

plan started with identifying airfield projects, then the terminal projects necessary to meet

passenger demand, then multimodal and landside projects were assessed, and finally cargo

facility needs were integrated.

As shown in Figure 6-1, the preferred airport development plan includes several large-scale

airside and landside capital improvements. This development is anticipated to occur over a 10-

year time frame; therefore, information was collected on the anticipated expenditures to be paid

out by the Airport annually over the 10-year time frame. For consistency in the process of

determining the 2019 capital expenditures analysis, an average annual capital expenditure

amount for 2032 was developed based on five years of spending data (2028-2032) for future

capital expenditure costs anticipated by the Airport as estimated by the Airport through the

Master Plan and subsequent evaluations.

Figure 6-1. Proposed Airport Development Plan

Sources: CMT, 2021 (basemap); WSP USA, 2022

6.1.1. 2032 On-Airport Direct Impacts

Table 6-1 presents the direct impacts of on-airport activity, estimated for the future year 2032.

As shown, it is anticipated that the Airport will employ approximately 700 people, and through

contracted services, support an additional nearly 370 jobs, resulting in more than 1,000 direct

airport administration jobs in 2032. These 2032 total airport administration jobs are projected to

support $72.4 million in payroll, contributing $123.4 million in value to the future GRP, and

$245.4 million in business revenues. Future impacts of airport tenants, including tenant capital

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

expenditures, are anticipated to support almost 8,000 jobs and approximately $498.2 million in

payroll.

The construction related to the Airport’s preferred airport development plan is anticipated to

generate more than 3,600 jobs and $236.7 million in payroll, ultimately generating

approximately $547.1 million in business revenues in 2032. The expansion of the major

aerospace manufacturing industry presence on the Airport is anticipated to generate more than

19,000 jobs, resulting in $2.9 billion in future 2032 payroll impacts. When all the on-airport

activities are considered, including the aerospace manufacturing industry, the Airport is

anticipated to support almost 32,000 jobs in 2032, which will generate almost $3.7 billion

in payroll, adding $3.8 billion in value to the GRP, and generating approximately $16.5

billion in business revenues.

Table 6-1. 2032 On-Airport Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration 1,065 $72,415,000 $123,440,000 $245,442,000

Airport Employees 700 $56,169,000 $103,288,000 $207,330,000

Airport Contracted Services 365 $16,246,000 $20,152,000 $38,112,000

Airport Tenants* 7,938 $498,225,000 $1,000,963,000 $1,770,587,000

Airport Capital Expenditures 3,612 $236,741,000 $270,094,000 $547,056,000

Subtotal Direct On-Airport 12,615 $807,381,000 $1,394,497,000 $2,563,085,000

Aerospace Manufacturing** 19,051 $2,918,258,000 $2,436,387,000 $13,893,182,000

2032 Total Direct On-Airport 31,666 $3,725,639,000 $3,830,884,000 $16,456,267,000

Notes: *Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the

major on-airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars

are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Moody’s Analytics for

2032, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

6.1.2. 2032 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts

Table 6-2 presents the multiplier impacts of on-airport activity, estimated for the future year

2032. These estimates present both indirect and induced impacts. As shown, the indirect and

induced impacts of airport administration are projected to result in a total of over 1,100 jobs,

which includes impacts of both airport employees and airport contracted services. The multiplier

impacts of airport administration are projected to generate approximately $96.6 million in

payroll, $213.8 million in value added, and $394.2 million in business revenues. Activity

projected for airport tenants is anticipated to produce more than 9,000 jobs, $522.0 million in

payroll, $863.2 million in value added, and approximately $1.6 billion in business revenues,

when the indirect and induced impacts are combined. Excluding the multiplier impacts of the

aerospace manufacturing industry, the estimated 2032 multiplier impacts of on-airport

activity will support almost 13,400 jobs, generating approximately $797.1 million in

payroll, adding almost $1.4 billion in value to GRP, and generating $2.5 billion in

business revenues. When the aerospace manufacturing multiplier impacts are

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

considered, then it is anticipated that the multiplier impacts of future on-airport activity

will support more than 52,500 jobs, which results in $3.3 billion in payroll impacts,

adding $5.4 billion of value to the GRP, and generating $9.8 billion in business revenues.

Table 6-2. 2032 On-Airport Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration

Indirect 515 $37,352,000 $80,163,000 $152,069,000

Induced 594 $59,219,000 $133,594,000 $242,082,000

Airport Employees

Indirect 406 $30,660,000 $70,072,000 $133,987,000

Induced 451 $51,741,000 $120,434,000 $219,258,000

Airport Contracted

Services

Indirect 108 $6,692,000 $10,091,000 $18,082,000

Induced 143 $7,478,000 $13,161,000 $22,824,000

Airport Tenants*

Indirect 4,375 $271,272,000 $421,828,000 $818,859,000

Induced 4,799 $250,741,000 $441,332,000 $765,365,000

Airport Capital

Expenditures

Indirect 1,149 $76,112,000 $128,667,000 $246,164,000

Induced 1,959 $102,402,000 $179,945,000 $311,897,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Indirect Impacts

N/A 6,039 $384,736,000 $630,658,000 $1,217,092,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Induced Impacts

N/A 7,351 $412,362,000 $754,871,000 $1,319,344,000

Subtotal On-Airport

Multiplier Impacts

N/A 13,390 $797,098,000 $1,385,529,000 $2,536,436,000

Aerospace

Manufacturing**

Indirect 13,849 $1,146,755,000 $1,690,196,000 $3,258,763,000

Induced 25,309 $1,322,243,000 $2,328,352,000 $4,037,878,000

Total On-Airport Indirect

Impacts

N/A 19,888 $1,531,491,000 $2,320,854,000 $4,475,855,000

Total On-Airport Induced

Impacts

N/A 32,660 $1,734,605,000 $3,083,223,000 $5,357,222,000

2032 Total On-Airport

Multiplier Impacts

N/A 52,547 $3,266,096,000 $5,404,077,000 $9,833,077,000

*Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the major on-

airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are

presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

6.1.3. 2032 Total On-Airport Activity Impacts

Table 6-3 presents the estimated 2032 total impacts of on-airport activity at the Airport. As

shown, the impacts estimated for 2032 on-airport activity, excluding impacts of the aerospace

industry, will support over 26,000 jobs, which in turn, will generate almost $1.6 billion in payroll,

adding approximately $2.8 billion to the GRP, and approximately $5.1 billion in business

revenues. The future total impact of the aerospace manufacturing industry will support more

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

than 58,200 jobs, resulting in almost $5.4 billion in payroll, approximately $6.5 billion in value

added, and almost $21.2 billion in business revenue impacts. When all on-airport activities

are considered, the total estimated 2032 impact of future on-airport activity is anticipated

to support more than 84,200 jobs, generating approximately $7.0 billion in payroll, and

producing approximately $26.3 billion in business revenues, while contributing over $9.2

billion to the GRP.

Table 6-3. 2032 On-Airport Total Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Administration 2,173 $168,986,000 $337,197,000 $639,593,000

Airport Employees

1,557 $138,570,000 $293,793,000 $560,575,000

Airport Contracted Services 616 $30,416,000 $43,403,000 $79,018,000

Airport Tenants* 17,111 $1,020,238,000 $1,864,122,000 $3,354,811,000

Airport Capital Expenditures 6,720 $415,255,000 $578,707,000 $1,105,118,000

Subtotal On-Airport 26,005 $1,604,479,000 $2,780,025,000 $5,099,522,000

Aerospace Manufacturing** 58,208 $5,387,256,000 $6,454,936,000 $21,189,823,000

2032 Total On-Airport 84,213 $6,991,735,000 $9,234,961,000 $26,289,345,000

*Employment and capital expenditure impacts exclude the major on-airport aerospace firms. **Impacts generated from the major on-

airport aerospace firms. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are

presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Moody’s Analytics for 2032,

2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

6.2. 2032 Off-Airport Impacts

As discussed in Section 4.2.2, off-airport activities include both aviation-related or reliant

businesses located off the Airport’s property and impacts associated with visitors traveling to the

St. Louis region via either GA or commercial service operations at the Airport.

The estimated growth for the aviation-reliant business sectors included in this analysis were

developed based on Airport and socioeconomic factors, including Moody’s Analytics growth

projections for 2032.

To estimate impacts of visitor spending in 2032 it was necessary to determine an estimate for

the number of GA and commercial service visitors as well as an average per visitor spending

amount for both GA and commercial service visitors. These are the same two factors used to

determine 2019 visitor spending impacts, as discussed in Section 4.2.2.2. The estimate for the

future GA and commercial service visitors was developed based on the forecasts developed for

the recent St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan.

According to the recent St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, it is anticipated that

2032 GA operations will remain consistent with 2019 operations. Therefore, the number of 2032

GA visitors will remain consistent with the estimate for 2019 GA visitors, as presented in

Section 4.2.2.2. Moreover, the per visitor spending amount for GA visitors was held constant at

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

the 2019 amount, which was $252. Therefore, it is anticipated that the direct spending by GA

visitors in 2032 will remain constant with direct GA visitor spending in 2019.

The recent St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan was also referenced to

determine the number of commercial service passengers based on the projected number of

enplanements in 2032, which is approximately 9.2 million as presented in the St. Louis Lambert

International Airport Forecast Adjustment Memo submitted to the FAA. These 2032

enplanements were separated by domestic and international service, with international

enplanements accounting for 6% of the total enplanements (nearly 600,000) and the remaining

94% of enplanements (8.6 million) considered domestic. In 2019, only 2% of enplanements

were international; however, the share of international enplanements was increased to 6% to

account for forecasted growth of existing international service as well as the introduction of new

international service as estimated by the Airport. St. Louis Lambert International Airport

anticipates increases to the existing nonstop Lufthansa service, initiated after 2019 but before

2023, as well as the introduction of new nonstop international service to other destinations in

Europe via another European carrier, and new nonstop service to cities in South America, the

Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico. It is important to note that the 8,608,530 domestic

enplanements were decreased by 23% to isolate only the origin and destination enplanements,

which results in 6,628,568 O&D domestic enplanements being included in this analysis.

The number of domestic (6.6 million) and international enplanements (nearly 600,000)

estimated for 2032 were used to determine the estimate for true visitors, which are considered

non-local visitors. A percentage of true domestic and international visitors was calculated based

on information provided by Airline Data, Inc. and other growth factors, as it is assumed that the

number of true visitors will increase as the Airport expands their domestic and international

nonstop service destinations. It was assumed that 48% of domestic and 48% of international

passengers could be considered true visitors, resulting in approximately 3.2 million domestic

and 280,000 international visitors in 2032.

With an estimate for domestic and international visitors developed, it was then necessary to

determine an estimate for the amount of money each visitor will spend during their trip. The

2019 commercial service visitor per trip spending amount of $692 was held constant for

domestic visitors for the 2032 impact analysis. Due to the anticipated increase in overall

international visitors departing via the Airport in 2032, it was determined that a higher rate of

spending per visitor would be applied to international visitors because, on average, international

visitors typically spend more money per trip than domestic visitors.

Using estimates derived

from other future visitor spending analyses conducted in other major cities, it was determined

that international visitor’s spend, on average, approximately 58% more per trip than domestic

travelers. Therefore, the 2032 per visitor per trip spending amount for domestic visitor was

increased by 58%, resulting in an international visitor spending per trip amount of $1,093. As

was done to determine the direct visitor spending amounts for 2019 visitors, the total number of

This was not a factor for the 2019 analysis as such a small percentage of total true visitors were

international visitors.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

true visitors was multiplied by the per visitor per trip spending amounts to determine an estimate

for 2032 domestic and international visitor spending.

The following sections present the results of the off-airport impact analysis for both off-airport

aviation-reliant businesses and commercial service and GA visitors. The impacts of future

international air service, specifically, is presented in Section 6.2.4.

6.2.1. 2032 Off-Airport Direct Impacts

The following subsections present the estimated 2032 direct impacts of off-airport aviation

reliant businesses and visitor spending separately. The combined total impacts of off-airport

activity are presented in Section 6.2.3.

6.2.1.1. Aviation-Reliant Business

As shown in Table 6-4, it is anticipated that 4,900 jobs will be supported by direct off-

airport aviation-reliant business activity in 2032. These jobs are projected to support

approximately $315.4 million in payroll, contributing almost $376.8 million in value

added, and overall generating approximately $1.1 billion in direct business revenue

impacts.

Table 6-4. 2032 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

2032 Total Aviation-Reliant

Businesses Direct Impacts

4,899 $315,433,000 $376,782,000 $1,059,857,000

Notes: Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023;

NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Moody’s Analytics for 2032, 2023;

Kimley-Horn, 2023

6.2.1.2. Commercial Service and GA Visitors

As shown in Table 6-5, it is projected that over 26,600 direct jobs will be supported by

commercial service visitors traveling via the Airport in 2032, which will generate approximately

$796.5 million in direct payroll, adding $1.2 billion in value to the GRP, and $2.0 billion in

business revenue impacts. GA visitors traveling via the Airport in 2032 are anticipated to

support just over 110 direct jobs, generating approximately $3.4 million in payroll, almost $5.0

million in value added, and $8.6 million in business revenue impacts. When combined, the

activity stemming from direct impacts of commercial service and GA visitors in 2032 are

estimated to provide nearly 27,000 direct jobs, generating almost $800 million in payroll,

$1.2 billion in value added, and more than $2.0 billion in business revenues.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

Table 6-5. 2032 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Direct Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Commercial Service 26,658 $796,491,000 $1,175,673,000 $2,039,140,000

GA 113 $3,363,000 $4,964,000 $8,610,000

2032 Total Visitor

Spending Direct Impacts

26,770 $799,854,000 $1,180,637,000 $2,047,750,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master

Plan, 2022; Kimley-Horn, 2023

6.2.2. 2032 Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts

The following subsections present the estimated 2032 multiplier impacts of off-airport aviation-

reliant businesses and visitor spending separately. The combined total impacts of off-airport

activity are presented in Section 6.2.3.

6.2.2.1. Aviation-Reliant Businesses

Future 2032 multiplier impacts of off-airport aviation-reliant businesses are anticipated to

provide more than 5,000 jobs, as shown in Table 6-6. When indirect and induced impacts

are combined as total multiplier impacts for off-airport aviation-reliant businesses in

2032, the payroll multiplier impacts for future aviation-reliant businesses are projected to

be approximately $292.7 million, generating $479.1 million in value added, resulting in

$865.7 million in multiplier business revenues.

Table 6-6. 2032 Off-Airport Aviation-Reliant Businesses Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Aviation-Reliant Businesses

Indirect 2,154 $143,303,000 $216,132,000 $409,651,000

Induced 2,859 $149,381,000 $262,975,000 $456,062,000

2032 Total Aviation-Reliant

Businesses Multiplier

Impacts

N/A 5,013 $292,684,000 $479,107,000 $865,713,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023;

Moody’s Analytics for 2032, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023

6.2.2.2. Visitor Spending

As shown in Table 6-7, the majority of the multiplier impacts associated with visitor spending in

2032 in terms of jobs and all other indicators are anticipated to come from commercial service

visitor spending with over 12,500 jobs. Commercial service visitors are anticipated to support

approximately $703.1 million in multiplier payroll impacts, which results in approximately $1.2

billion in value-added impacts, and $2.1 billion in business revenues in 2032. Estimates for

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

multiplier impacts related to future GA visitors indicates that just over 50 jobs will be supported

by this activity, resulting in multiplier payroll impacts of almost $3.0 million.

When all future visitor impacts are combined, it is anticipated that multiplier impacts

related to future 2032 visitor spending will support more than 12,605 jobs, generating

$706.1 million in payroll, which is anticipated to add almost $1.2 billion in value to the

regional economy, resulting in approximately $2.1 billion in multiplier business revenues

impacts.

Table 6-7. 2032 Off-Airport Visitor Spending Multiplier Impacts

Category Impact Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Commercial Service

Indirect 5,615 $334,810,000 $521,815,000 $996,454,000

Induced 6,937 $368,295,000 $648,964,000 $1,122,185,000

Indirect 24 $1,414,000 $2,203,000 $4,207,000

Induced 29 $1,555,000 $2,740,000 $4,738,000

Total Visitor Spending

Indirect Impacts

N/A 5,639 $336,224,000 $524,018,000 $1,000,661,000

Total Visitor Spending

Induced Impacts

N/A 6,966 $369,850,000 $651,704,000 $1,126,923,000

2032 Total Visitor

Spending Multiplier

Impacts

N/A

12,605 $706,074,000 $1,175,722,000 $2,127,584,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master

Plan, 2022; Kimley-Horn, 2023

6.2.3. 2032 Total Off-Airport Multiplier Impacts

The total future off-airport impacts, for both aviation-reliant businesses and visitor spending, is

presented in Table 6-8. As shown, almost 10,000 jobs will be generated from future aviation-

reliant business impacts, resulting in total payroll impacts of approximately $608.1 million,

$855.9 million in value added, and $1.9 billion in total business revenue impacts. The total

impacts of commercial service and GA visitors in 2032 is anticipated to support nearly 39,400

jobs, which are projected to produce $1.5 billion in payroll, adding approximately $2.4 billion in

value to the GRP, and generating almost $4.2 billion in total business revenue impacts. When

considering the future 2032 impacts of all off-airport activity, there are an estimated

49,300 jobs attributable to total off-airport impacts, resulting in $2.1 billion in payroll

impacts, $3.2 billion in value added, and $6.1 billion in total business revenue impacts.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

Table 6-8. 2032 Off-Airport Total Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Aviation-Reliant Businesses 9,912 $608,117,000 $855,888,000 $1,925,570,000

Commercial Service and GA

Visitors

39,375 $1,505,926,000 $2,356,359,000 $4,175,334,000

Commercial Service Visitors 39,209 $1,499,594,000 $2,346,452,000 $4,157,779,000

GA Visitors 166 $6,332,000 $9,907,000 $17,555,000

2032 Total Off-Airport Impacts 49,287 $2,114,043,000 $3,212,247,000 $6,100,904,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4,

2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, 2022; NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers,

2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Moody’s Analytics for 2032, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

6.2.4. Impacts of Future International Air Service

As noted, in 2019 there was limited nonstop international air service offered at the Airport.

Therefore, the 2019 visitor spending impacts presented in Section 5.2 primarily comprise GA

and domestic commercial service visitors. Following 2019, the Airport introduced nonstop air

service to Europe via Lufthansa. This Lufthansa service was not only a welcome change for

those traveling to Europe on vacation but added immense value to the global corporate

headquarters located in St. Louis, as it provided an efficient and frequent connection overseas.

This service was generated as a result of the business community providing financial support to

ensure its success, supporting their own travel needs and providing more opportunities for the

region’s residents and other businesses to travel nonstop to Europe.

Initially, Lufthansa offered service three times a week; however, it is anticipated that in 2032

Lufthansa will increase their service to at least five times a week. Moreover, the Airport

anticipates that additional international service will be available at the Airport in 2032, including

nonstop service to locations in Europe, South America, as well as the Caribbean, Mexico, and

Canada, all occurring multiple times a week.

As discussed in Section 6.2, the number of international visitors anticipated in 2032 was

calculated based on the St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan forecast data,

information provided by the Airport, and review of industry reports, such as Airline Data, Inc.

Using the number of international visitors, it was possible to determine the future potential

impact of international air service at the Airport, which is presented in Table 6-9. As shown,

direct impacts of visitors using future international service are anticipated to support more than

3,200 jobs, which will result in almost $100 million in payroll impacts, $143.6 million in value

added, and $249.1 million in direct business revenues. When considering the direct, indirect,

and induced impacts, it is anticipated that future visitors utilizing international air service

at the Airport will support nearly 4,800 total jobs, generating $183.2 million in payroll. The

total impact of future visitor impacts resulting from international air service is anticipated

to add approximately $286.7 million in value to the GRP, resulting in approximately half a

billion dollars of total business revenues for the St. Louis region. It is important to note that

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

the impacts presented here are not in addition to the impacts presented in Table 6-8, but rather

included within those impacts.

Table 6-9. 2032 Total Impacts of Future International Air Service at St. Louis

Lambert International Airport

Future International Air

Service Impacts

Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Direct Impacts 3,257 $97,307,000 $143,632,000 $249,121,000

Indirect Impacts 686 $40,904,000 $63,750,000 $121,737,000

Induced Impacts 847 $44,995,000 $79,284,000 $137,097,000

2032 Total International Air

Service Impacts

4,790 $183,205,000 $286,666,000 $507,955,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; S St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, 2022; Kimley-

Horn, 2023.

Figure 6-2 presents the percent share of total visitor spending impacts generated from future

international air service within the total, which also includes domestic commercial service and

GA impacts. As shown, future international air service visitor spending is anticipated to account

for approximately 12% of the total 2032 visitor spending impacts, with domestic commercial

service visitor spending impacts accounting for slightly more than 87% and GA visitor spending

impacts accounting for less than 1%.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

Figure 6-2. Share of 2032 Total Visitor Spending Impacts by Type of Visitor

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, 2022; Kimley-

Horn, 2023.

It is important to note that there are several other factors that contribute to the economic impact

of new international flights that are not represented in the international visitor spending impacts

presented in Section 6.2.4. These factors include increases in airport landing fees as a result of

the actual flight operations and additional fuel sales, as well as impacts related to cargo and

freight activity. Impacts of cargo and freight activity are two-fold, as it would include the impact

of the overall weight of the goods as well as the value of the goods. Other factors that contribute

to the impact of international flights are associated economic development opportunities for the

region, as companies will often grow their impact as new international service becomes

available, bringing new money and new business opportunities to the region. Finally, there are

impacts associated with time-savings, as many firms prefer to fly non-stop and will travel to

airports within their region to access nonstop service. These additional benefits were not

calculated as part of this analysis given the lack of specificity of the future international air

service.

6.3. 2032 Total Airport Impacts

Table 6-10 presents the total future Airport impacts anticipated for the year 2032, inclusive of all

on- and off-airport activities. As shown, it is anticipated that in 2032, direct impacts of on- and

off-airport activity will generate more than 63,300 jobs in the St. Louis region, which will result in

almost $4.8 billion in payroll impacts, approximately $5.4 billion in value-added impacts, and

$19.6 billion in business revenues. The multiplier impacts of future 2032 on- and off-airport

87.4%

12.2%

0.4%

Future Domestic Commercial Service Visitor Spending Impacts

Future International Commercial Service Visitor Spending Impacts

Future GA Visitor Spending Impacts

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

impacts will support more than 70,000 jobs, $4.3 billion in payroll, approximately $7.1 billion in

value-added impacts, and $12.8 billion in business revenues. When combined, the direct and

multiplier impacts of on- and off-airport activity in 2032 are anticipated to provide just

over 133,500 jobs in the St. Louis region, which will result in almost $9.1 billion paid out

in payroll, adding $12.5 billion to the GRP, and generating almost $32.4 billion in total

business revenues.

Table 6-10. 2032 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Airport Impacts

Category Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Total Direct Impacts 63,335 $4,840,926,000 $5,388,303,000 $19,563,874,000

Total Multiplier Impacts 70,166 $4,264,853,000 $7,058,906,000 $12,826,374,000

Total Indirect Impacts 27,681 $2,011,018,000 $3,061,004,000 $5,886,167,000

Total Induced Impacts 42,485 $2,253,836,000 $3,997,902,000 $6,940,207,000

2032 Total Airport

Impacts

133,501 $9,105,778,000 $12,447,209,000 $32,390,249,000

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019

dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master

Plan, 2022; NAICS Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Moody’s Analytics for

2032, 2023; St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

As shown in Table 6-11, it is anticipated that 65,380 jobs will be supported by total airport

impacts, alone, in 2032. These total airport impact jobs are anticipated to support

approximately $3.1 billion in payroll, generating $5.1 billion in value-added benefits, and

approximately $9.3 billion in total business revenues. Included within the category of

“airport impacts” is future airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and

visitor spending impacts. The aerospace manufacturing activity anticipated for 2032 is projected

to support 58,208 total jobs, which corresponds with approximately $5.4 billion in payroll, $6.5

billion in value added, and almost $21.2 billion in business revenues. The future impact of off-

airport aviation-reliant businesses is anticipated to result in almost 10,000 jobs added to the St.

Louis region in 2032, resulting in $608.1 million in payroll, adding $855.9 million in value to the

GRP, which will generate $1.9 billion in business revenues.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

Table 6-11. 2032 St. Louis Lambert International Airport Total Impacts by Activty

Type

Activity Jobs Payroll Value Added

Business

Revenues

Airport Impacts* 65,380 $3,110,405,000 $5,136,385,000 $9,274,856,000

Aerospace Manufacturing 58,208 $5,387,256,000 $6,454,936,000 $21,189,823,000

Aviation Reliant Businesses 9,912 $608,117,000 $855,888,000 $1,925,570,000

Total

133,501 $9,105,778,000 $12,447,209,000 $32,390,249,000

Notes: *Includes airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not

sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN

V6.4, 2023; Airline Data Inc, 2019; Flight Aware, 2019; St. Louis Lambert International Airport Master Plan, 2022; NAICS

Association, 2023; CoStar, 2023; D&B Hoovers, 2023; ESRI Business Analyst, 2023; Moody’s Analytics for 2032, 2023; St. Louis

Lambert International Airport, 2019; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

When comparing the results of the current 2019 airport impact economic contributions to the

estimated future 2032 airport impact economic contributions, it is anticipated that total payroll

impacts will increase by 56% ($2.0 billion to $3.1 billion) between 2019 and 2032. The number

of jobs that the airport impacts support is anticipated to grow 55% (42,295 to 65,380) between

2019 and 2032. When looking at the total contributions of the airport impacts, there is an

anticipated 53% increase ($6.1 billion to $9.3 billion) in total airport impact between 2019 and

what is estimated for 2032. The growth of airport impacts anticipated between 2019 and 2032 is

comparable to the growth identified between the previous 2013 study and this study.

6.4. 2032 Tax Impacts

Tax impacts for 2032 were developed using the same process as tax impacts for the 2019

analysis. IMPLAN provides tax estimates at the city, special district, county, state, and federal

level for each category of impact, whether on- or off-airport. As with the 2019 tax impacts, the

2032 tax impacts represent taxes paid by employee compensation, taxes of production and

imports, other property income, and personal taxes.

As shown in Table 6-12, the local tax impacts related to the anticipated direct on- and off-airport

activity is projected to reach approximately $287.3 million, with airport impacts, including airport

administration, airport tenants (excluding aerospace manufacturing), capital expenditures, and

visitor spending, contributing the most to this. The total direct tax impacts across all on- and

off-airport activity anticipated in 2032 is almost $1.5 billion, with most of those tax

impacts coming from federal tax impacts.

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Section 6. 2032 Projected Future Economic Contributions // November

Table 6-12. 2032 Tax Revenues Generated from Direct On- and Off-Airport Activity

Direct Impacts Local State Federal Total

Airport Impacts* $199,617,000 $146,409,000 $333,047,000 $679,072,000

Aerospace Manufacturing $75,190,000 $98,513,000 $536,836,000 $710,540,000

Aviation-Reliant Businesses $12,478,000 $13,623,000 $61,089,000 $87,189,000

2032 Direct Tax Revenues $287,285,000 $258,545,000 $930,972,000 $1,476,801,000

Notes: *Includes airport administration, airport tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not

sum due to rounding. Dollar values were rounded to the nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN

V6.4, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

The total tax impacts (including direct and multiplier impacts), across all jurisdictions,

anticipated for on- and off-airport activity projected in 2032 is approximately $2.9 billion,

as shown in Table 6-13. Most of these tax impacts are associated with federal taxes, with federal

taxes accounting for $1.8 billion of the total 2032 estimate. Approximately $528.3 million in state

taxes, and $596.7 million in local taxes are estimated to make up the remainder of the total future

tax impacts for all on- and off-airport activity anticipated to occur in 2032.

Table 6-13. 2032 Tax Revenues Generated from Total On- and Off-Airport Activity

Total Impacts Local State Federal Total

Airport Impacts* $316,188,000 $245,045,000 $637,559,000 $1,198,790,000

Aerospace Manufacturing $247,529,000 $251,422,000 $1,048,437,000 $1,547,389,000

Aviation-Reliant Businesses $33,016,000 $31,822,000 $121,823,000 $186,661,000

2032 Total Tax Revenues $596,733,000 $528,289,000 $1,807,819,000 $2,932,840,000

Notes: Impacts presented in Table 6-13 include direct, indirect, and induced impacts. *Includes airport administration, airport

tenants, airport capital expenditures, and visitor spending impacts. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollars were rounded to the

nearest thousand. Dollars are presented in 2019 dollars. Sources: IMPLAN V6.4, 2023; Kimley-Horn, 2023.

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Section 7. Conclusion // November 2023

7. Conclusion

The St. Louis Lambert International Airport has a long history of serving the air transportation

needs of the St. Louis region and will continue to do so long into the future. The Airport provides

a critical transportation link for the region, and many businesses in the region are reliant upon

the Airport for job creation and support, as well as transporting people and goods.

As demonstrated in this report, St. Louis Lambert International Airport is a thriving hub

for economic activity, generating economic activity on and off the Airport, with more than

300 businesses on-site and nearly 250 reliant upon it. Moreover, the on-airport and off-

airport activity presented in this report generated $27.5 billion in economic impact for the

region in 2019 and is anticipated to generate $32.4 billion by 2032.