Among the findings in this year’s NBAA Compensation Survey, was the fact that industry salaries continued their upward trajectory, growing around eight percent on average last year.
“The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for that period recorded a 4.1 percent increase in private industry compensation; we in business aviation have basically doubled that,” noted Dr. Christopher Broyhill, CAM, an aviation compensation expert and NBAA Business Aviation Management Committee member who collaborates on the survey.
The 2024 survey also shows that compensation increases at smaller operators outpaced larger operators, a trend that was recorded in the 2023 survey, although larger operators still tended to offer higher pay.
“NBAA’s Compensation Survey is the most robust we’ve had in years. More organizations and more people responded and provided granular detail on more data sets, which allowed us to deliver statistically significant insights on more aspects of our industry,” said Broyhill.
“We have so much more data for almost every position this year,” he added. “You can break the different positions out by airplane class, whether you’re talking about captains, senior captains or chief pilots — and that’s a big deal. We’ve also gathered data from rotorcraft operators and built on the single-engine and twin turboprop data from previous compensation surveys to add much more insight on those sectors of our community.”
The 2024 survey is based on 459 NBAA member participants providing data on 4,578 flight department employees, a data set that confirms the survey’s stature as the industry’s foremost survey in compensation and benefits, said Elayna Hall, NBAA manager of professional development and coordinator for the 2024 compensation survey.
“The depth of our data and the constant evolution of our questions make this the premier, benchmark compensation survey for business aviation,” she said.
“For the 2024 survey, for instance, we’ve continued to dig deeper into retention tools, especially long-term incentives. Because of this approach, we can now provide data for different personnel levels. That’s a new depth of information that hiring managers and employees can use to determine if their compensation packages are competitive with the industry standard.
“NBAA’s Compensation Survey also delivers data that truly represents our industry. This survey gives you insights from single-aircraft operators to large flight departments and covers a broad range of job positions beyond the cockpit, including dispatchers, flight attendants and technicians at various career levels,” Hall added.
NBAA has partnered with independent auditor BDO USA P.A. since 2019 to ensure the compensation survey delivers the most credible and accurate data in business aviation.
“BDO’s expertise in compensation policy and survey administration is unparalleled, and their partnership has elevated the NBAA Compensation Survey to be an indispensable business tool that helps our industry attract and retain the best talent,” said Jo Damato, CAM, NBAA senior vice-president, education, training and workforce development.
“This reflects NBAA’s broader commitment to the business aviation community to provide trusted, verified, benchmark data that contributes to the continued success and growth of our vibrant, essential industry.”
The 2024 NBAA Compensation Survey is available to NBAA Business and Operating members. Participants receive the results free of charge; non-participating member companies can purchase access to the interactive web resource. Learn more about the NBAA Compensation Survey.
This press release was prepared and distributed by the National Business Aviation Association.
