Industry group, 4881
Support Activities for Air Transportation
272,420 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $62,610 a year (BLS, May 2025). What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Estimate.
a year: 116 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 30%
- 8%
- 63%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 17% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 22% within reach now and 37% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 19%. Today's estimate: 21%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. The 40 largest jobs hold 86% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks | 11,940 | 74% | 18 million | $39K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 8,470 | 64% | 11 million | $39K |
| Aircraft Service Attendants | 19,500 | 15% | 6.1 million | $43K |
| Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians | 42,580 | 7% | 5.9 million | $73K |
| Cargo and Freight Agents | 6,030 | 45% | 5.6 million | $39K |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 28,860 | 9% | 5.4 million | $39K |
| Office Clerks, General | 2,960 | 54% | 3.3 million | $46K |
| General and Operations Managers | 6,130 | 23% | 2.9 million | $109K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,740 | 78% | 2.8 million | $54K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers | 4,980 | 27% | 2.8 million | $88K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 3,720 | 35% | 2.7 million | $55K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 2,360 | 53% | 2.6 million | $47K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 140 smaller jobs (36,840 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 98% of the industry's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Complete forms describing tasks completed.Aircraft Service Attendants5 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Record numbers of units handled or moved, using daily production sheets or work tickets.Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Make and confirm reservations for transportation and accommodations, using telephones, faxes, mail, and computers.Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks3.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Prepare customer invoices and accept payment.Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks2.7 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Read and interpret maintenance manuals, service bulletins, and other specifications to determine the feasibility and method of repairing or replacing malfunctioning or damaged components.Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians2.5 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Provide clients with assistance in preparing required travel documents and forms.Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks2.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Determine repair limits for engine hot section parts.Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Obtain and examine all relevant information to assess validity of complaints and to determine possible causes, such as extreme weather conditions that could increase utility bills.Customer Service Representatives1.9 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan routes, itineraries, and accommodation details, and compute fares and fees, using schedules, rate books, and computers.Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks1.9 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Provide customers with information on routes, gates, prices, timetables, terminals, or concourses.Passenger Attendants1.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have.
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Freight Transportation Arrangement251,630 people37% now, 55% by 2028
- Support Activities for Road Transportation114,040 people23% now, 29% by 2028
- Support Activities for Water Transportation94,920 people18% now, 29% by 2028
- Support Activities for Rail Transportation42,340 people15% now, 23% by 2028
- Other Support Activities for Transportation37,610 people24% now, 32% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works