Aviation

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Industry Overview
Cluster Components and Companies
Aviation by the Numbers
Cluster Strengths
Cluster Challenges
Key Initiatives
Key Organizations
Cluster Contacts
 

Industry Overview

Although most manufacturing of aviation components and kits is centered on or near public-use airports (like those in Portland, Scappoose, Redmond, and Bend), supply-chain and distribution firms exist in at least 15 Oregon communities in both urban and rural areas. They produce or manufacture for avionics, airplane components and assembly, raw material for fabrication, and unique components for specialty aircraft like the "Alaskan Bushwheel." Aviation customers include individual purchasers as well as major airframe manufacturers in other states (e.g. Cessna Aircraft in Kansas). Oregon's kit plane manufacturers also provide over 70 percent of all of the kit planes sold within the U.S. each year to global customers. This industry cluster also includes businesses providing local fabrication services, which has led to robust maintenance and repair services for all sizes of aircraft, including balloons and forest-fire fighting airframes. Key competitors for Oregon's aviation industry include international manufacturers in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Canada and Mexico.

Cluster Components and Companies

Experimental and sport aircraft manufacturing; heavy lift helicopter maintenance; historic aircraft maintenance; avionics design and manufacturing; aviation related military equipment; aerial photography, radar, lidar, and other hi-tech sensing systems; airport information systems; general flight training; international ab initio flight training; flight service companies; industrial and residential airparks.

Notable companies include: Vans Aircraft (Aurora Airport); Sky Research (Ashland Airport); Hillsboro Aviation (Hillsboro Airport); Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (Hood River Airport); Oregon Aero (Scappoose Airport). Oregon's Aviation cluster includes the heavy lift helicopter industry, which is comprised of Columbia Helicopters (Aurora Airport), Evergreen Helicopters, Helicopter Transport Services, Croman Corporation, Erickson Air-Crane, Superior Helicopters, and Carson Helicopters.

Aviation by the Numbers

Sector	Economic Impact
Aviation	Direct Employment: 13,500 (2007)   Average Wage: $58,500 (2007)  Total Firms: 200 (2007)

Source: Oregon Employment Department, Oregon Labor Market Information System. CES-OCEW data (NAICS)

 Cluster Strengths

• The singular focus on aircraft manufacturing.
• The strong foundation of collaboration and inter-reliance of cluster participants to produce aviation components and related products.
• Strong emphasis on use of airports and aviation industries for economic development at Oregon's airports.

Cluster Challenges

• Instability and inconsistencies of FAA funding and policy-making in aircraft manufacturing and oversight.
• Aircraft fuel prices continue to be high and erratic.
• Liability concerns from the banking community make it difficult to obtain commercial short-term lines of credit.

Key Initiatives

• Use smaller rural airports as economic development centers. Specific initiatives to assist in the success include:
  • Allowing urban water and sewer to serve rural airports outside of their urban growth boundary,
  • Getting Congressional help with gaining FAA approval to promote public-private partnerships at rural airports.
• Keep and expand rural air service locations. This includes experimenting with alternative models of rural air service other than normal airline scheduled air service.
• Stabilize aviation funding (federal and state) for commercial air service and general aviation airports. Consider transportation mode competition issues relative to funding.
• Continue work on refining state regulations and zoning standards for airports that coordinates FAA, state, and local interests, while promoting job creation and transportation improvement to rural areas.
• Support Oregon Department of Aviation in its role of fighting for FAA dollars for Oregon airports and aviation needs. ODA already is a bare bones agency, yet brings large dollars to the state via federal grant programs.
• Coordinate with other clusters on issues:
  • wind power towers as relate to airport airspace,
  • defense related aeronautical projects.
• Continue efforts to coordinate aviation maintenance workforce skill needs with community college and other training programs so that workers are able to work with new aviation technologies.
• Continue the attempt to capitalize on the State of Oregon being an early adopter of the Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) next generation FAA airspace monitoring system which will replace radar.
• Encourage the education and training of new pilots, especially among young people, both to help maintain a healthy aviation community, and to put aviation as a career choice on young people’s planning screens. Education in aviation includes training in science, math, weather, flight planning, and equipment operation, which easily transfers to many other fields.

Key Organizations

The Aerospace Industries Coalition is slowly re-forming into the Aviation Cluster, which first convened in 2001. There will be some overlapping representation with the advanced manufacturing cluster, and from the Oregon Aviation Business Association, the Oregon Airport Manager's Association, and the Oregon Pilot's Association. Currently, the cluster is loosely organized with 2-4 informal meetings per year of the CEOs of Oregon's aviation industry. 

Cluster Contacts

Aron Faegre
Aron Faegre & Associates Aviation Planning
520 SW Yamhill Street, Portland, OR 97204
503-222-2546 

Mark Gardiner
Oregon Aviation Board Chair
CSI, Inc.
1 SW Columbia, Suite 640
Portland, OR 97258
(503) 295-7970 or (503) 295-7970