Education, OEMs, MROs, Spectrum Of Capabilities Drive Diverse Ecosystem

While some U.S. states such as California and Washington are recognized as aviation and aerospace behemoths, other states are high on the ladder of economic impact.

Those include Colorado, Kansas, and a few others, and also Georgia is rapidly emerging in the competition and perhaps deserves more recognition in this context.

Georgia’s Department of Economic Development says the aerospace sector contributes $57 billion to the state’s economy and supports over 200,000 jobs. The state has a strong industrial base with 800 companies in the aerospace segment.

In aviation, the obvious powerhouses are Delta Air Lines and its subsidiary Endeavor Air, and other carriers operate out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jacson International Airport (KATL), arguably, depending on the metric used, the world’s busiest airport.

The state is also home to business jet OEM Gulfstream Aerospace as well as defense giant Lockheed Martin. Other younger manufacturers have set up shop in Georgia including air taxi company Archer with a massive new plant, LanzaJet, a producer of SAF with a 10-million-gallon-per-year plant, and Hermeus, developer of hypersonic aircraft.

Delta TechOps, the largest MRO operator in the U.S., is also based in Georgia. And the state just recently scored a $200 million investment by Pratt & Whitney for its Columbus facility, and Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services is growing its operations in Macon.

The state’s educational system provides the pipeline for fresh talent to keep those companies humming along. Georgia Tech is an engineering powerhouse that recently signed a partnership with Altair, a Michigan-based tech firm the develops AI-driven simulation software for bleeding-edge aerospace design applications. For example, JetZero is using the technology for its blended wing airline body design.

At the recent Paris Air Show, Elizabeth McLean, Assistant Director of the Georgia Department of Economic Development said in an interview, “It is a very diverse ecosystem. What actually sets us apart from other states with strong aerospace industries is that we have the whole spectrum of activities, from the HQs to manufacturing, MRO, you name it.”  

FMI:  georgia.org/