Air traffic control (NAICS 488111) federal contract obligations

Seventy-seven awards hold $2.56 billion

Dividing $2,562,178,818.05 by 77 produces about $33.3 million per award. That concentration is typical of a specialized operations code bought through a small number of large vehicles rather than tens of thousands of micro-purchases. The packet does not list those vehicles. It supports the obligation total and the 77-award count.

Air traffic control as a Census industry is the service of directing aircraft, not aircraft manufacturing and not airport terminal construction. Those activities use other NAICS lines when tagged that way and are not inside this $2.56 billion unless the award also carries 488111.

Contract obligations, not the FAA budget line

USAspending.gov obligations are commitments on contract actions. An agency budget justification that funds federal employees in government towers is a different layer. This industry table captures contracts tagged 488111, which may include contracted tower operations or related control services as the awarding office classified them.

Outlays trail obligations. A multi-year control-services contract can be obligated in increments while monthly invoices continue. Citing $2,562,178,818.05 as cash already paid is incorrect. De-obligations can also reduce the net without a tower closing.

What 77 does not count

The 77 awards include modifications that keep NAICS 488111. They are not 77 airports and not 77 contractors. One contract family can generate several of those rows. The industry page is the place to see unique recipients.

Assistance and empty NAICS fields

Grants and cooperative agreements often omit NAICS. Airport improvement assistance would sit on program pages, not in this 488111 total, unless a contract action carried the code. The 77 awards are the contract slice.

Reading the ATC industry hub

The Air Traffic Control industry page lists the USAspending.gov rows behind $2.56 billion. Compare 488111 with other air-transport support codes on the all-industries index. Quote obligations, not outlays, and keep the 77-award count next to the dollars so the concentration is visible.

Citing air-traffic-control contracts without mixing aviation codes

Quote $2,562,178,818.05 as USAspending contract obligations on 77 awards tagged NAICS 488111. Do not fold in aircraft manufacturing, airport construction, or other air-transport support NAICS unless those awards also carry 488111. Directing aircraft is easy to confuse with the rest of the aviation portfolio on an agency website; this table follows the code on the award.

Readers sometimes treat 77 awards as 77 contract towers. The figure is an award-record count, including modifications. A single vendor operating many sites can still appear as relatively few award rows if the work sits on one vehicle. Place-of-performance fields live on the hub, not in this packet.

Outlays are absent. Incremental funding can raise the $2.56 billion before invoices post. Warehouse refreshes can move both dollars and the 77-award count. Treat the live industry table as current.

Assistance without NAICS remains outside. Payroll for federal employees is not a NAICS contract total. Quote USAspending.gov, quote obligations, quote 77 awards, and stop before converting the Census title into a map of national airspace facilities.

Readers quoting this industry should keep two packet facts in one sentence: $2,562,178,818 in USAspending.gov contract obligations and 77 awards tagged NAICS 488111 (AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL). Dropping either figure hides whether the book is a few large vehicles or many small orders. The rounded obligation used for citation is $2,562,178,818; cents on the source total, if any, do not change the industry identity of the code.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL shows a small award-record count (77). A handful of vehicles can dominate the obligation stock. Do not read that shape as a completeness claim or as a vendor census. Transportation-support codes record tagged contract commitments, not vehicle-miles or tower counts. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL is the NAICS string on the award. Record corrections in the USAspending.gov warehouse can move both the $2,562,178,818 and the 77-award count. Treat the live AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL industry page as current and this file as a reading of the harvested packet.

Internal comparison belongs on the all-industries index, where NAICS 488111 sits beside other six-digit contract totals. Adding neighboring codes by hand creates a new total this packet does not contain; cite each NAICS if you add. Assistance awards that omit NAICS remain outside $2,562,178,818. Outlays remain unpublished here. Quote obligations, quote 77 awards, cite USAspending.gov, and open the overlay hub for recipients rather than inventing agencies, fiscal years, or unit counts the packet does not list.

Questions

How much is obligated under NAICS 488111 air traffic control?

USAspending.gov shows $2,562,178,818.05 in obligations on 77 contract awards coded Air Traffic Control. That total is procurement commitments, not the full FAA budget and not outlays paid to date. USAspending.gov is the source for the $2,562,178,818 obligation stock and the 77 contract awards tagged AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (NAICS 488111). Assistance awards that omit NAICS are outside both figures.

Do 77 awards mean 77 control towers?

No. The 77 figure counts contract records tagged 488111, including modifications. One vehicle can cover many sites. The industry page lists the records behind the count. Keep the citation on contract obligations: $2,562,178,818 on 77 awards coded NAICS 488111. Outlays, grants without NAICS, and unit counts are not in the packet that produced this page.

Is this the same as airport construction spending?

No. Airport construction and aircraft manufacturing use other NAICS lines when tagged that way. Only awards reported as 488111 feed the $2,562,178,818.05. The industry hub lists the underlying USAspending.gov rows. This answer restates only packet facts: NAICS 488111, $2,562,178,818 obligated, and 77 awards for AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL.

Are grants for airports included in 488111?

Assistance awards often lack NAICS, so they are omitted from this industry rollup. The $2,562,178,818.05 and 77 awards are the contract slice tagged 488111. Do not treat 77 as establishments or $2,562,178,818 as cash disbursed. Both numbers describe USAspending.gov contract actions tagged NAICS 488111 (AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL), not assistance and not outlays.