Employment in the aerospace products and parts manufacturing industry is expected to decrease by 18 percent over the 2002-2012 period, compared with the 16-percent growth projected for all industries combined. Employment in the aerospace industry has declined in the past few years due to a drastic reduction in commercial transport aircraft orders, and relatively little increase in orders is expected over the projection period. This decline in orders was caused by the reduction in air travel that resulted from the terrorist attacks on the United States, as well as severe financial problems many of the Nation’s airlines have experienced. In addition, the industry will continue to experience strong foreign competition in the commercial transport market.

The outlook for the military aircraft and missiles portion of the industry is better. Growing concern for the Nation’s security has increased the need for military aircraft and military aerospace equipment as well as for military aerospace personnel. Although new employment opportunities in the defense-related sector of the aerospace industry may not reach previous levels, the increased need for aerospace defense will boost the demand for employment within this sector.

Due to past reductions in defense expenditures and competition in the commercial aircraft sector, there have been and may continue to be mergers within the industry that sometimes result in layoffs. Even though the number of large firms performing final assembly of aircraft has been reduced, hundreds of smaller manufacturers and subcontractors will remain in this industry.

Despite an expected decline in employment of professional workers in the industry, there still may be a significant number of openings in the industry due to replacement needs, especially for engineers. Many engineers who entered the industry in the 1960s are approaching retirement. Overall, professionals in the aerospace manufacturing industry typically enjoy more employment stability than do other workers. During slowdowns in production, companies prefer to keep technical teams intact to continue research and development activities, in anticipation of new business. Production workers, on the other hand, are particularly vulnerable to layoffs during downturns in the economy, when aircraft orders decline.