Federal obligations in flight training (NAICS 611512)

An education code, not an aircraft-plant NAICS

NAICS 611512 covers establishments that provide flight training. Military undergraduate pilot training, rotary-wing instruction, and related contracted schools can land here when the award is tagged as flight training. Aircraft manufacturing (336411), flight-simulator manufacturing, and scheduled passenger air transportation sit on other codes. The $4,491,113,822.42 total is the training tag, not “federal aviation spending.”

Colleges and universities (611310) that host aerospace programs are a different educational class. Adding 611310 to 611512 would mix degree-granting institutions with specialized flight schools. SpendingVault reports the USAspending NAICS on the action, not an FAA part-141 roster and not an FEC employer string such as “pilot.”

1,181 awards on a $4.49 billion obligation stock

One thousand one hundred eighty-one awards produced $4,491,113,822.42 in obligations. That is a thinner action count than administrative or wholesale codes with tens of thousands of lines. Long training vehicles can dominate a specialized education class; the packet does not name those vehicles. The table shows tagged dollars and the 1,181-award count, not a cost per student or per flight hour.

Obligations move with new awards, options, and modifications, including downward adjustments when class sizes change. Outlays are payments for instruction delivered and are not this $4,491,113,822.42 rollup. A multi-year training pipeline can show a large commitment while sorties are billed over time. The industry page does not convert obligations into a syllabus calendar.

Contract NAICS versus education grants

USAspending.gov stores NAICS on contract actions. GI Bill payments, NASA education grants, and many STEM assistance awards often have no NAICS field. Those dollars will not add to the 1,181 awards even when the beneficiary is a student pilot. Open program pages for grant-funded aviation education.

The label is a Census educational-services classification. It is not an NTSB accident file, not a military occupational specialty table, and not campaign-finance text. Cite USAspending.gov via SpendingVault for $4,491,113,822.42 and the 1,181-award count.

Reading the 611512 table

The hub lists recipients and awards that share this NAICS tag. A large obligation is a disclosed commitment. It is not a finding that a school failed a check ride standard, that a simulator was unsafe, or that a small business was excluded. SpendingVault does not score training quality from the dollar total.

Use award IDs, not the $4,491,113,822.42 headline, to separate two schools. Subcontracted simulator operators may be missing if the prime coded flight training. UEI and name changes are ordinary in the file.

Neighboring aviation and education codes

Aircraft manufacturing, other support activities for air transportation (488190), and colleges (611310) are separate pages. Adding them to $4,491,113,822.42 would mix airframes, airport services, and universities with flight schools. That recode is not this page.

Assistance without NAICS remains outside the 1,181-award count. For a school that holds both training contracts and education grants, open the recipient record. This guide stays on contract NAICS 611512 from USAspending.gov. Keep obligations distinct from outlays.

Training pipelines versus aircraft buys

A flight-training vehicle can include simulator time, instructor labor, and aircraft hours without those components appearing as 336411 manufacturing. Manufacturing-coded aircraft buys will not raise the 1,181-award count. Conversely, a contracted schoolhouse tagged 611512 sits in $4,491,113,822.42 even if the same prime also builds airframes under another NAICS. SpendingVault does not merge those rows.

Searchers who want “all federal aviation” must add many codes and still miss assistance. This page does not perform that recode. Cite contract NAICS 611512 only. Do not treat the row as an FEC occupation called pilot or as an FAA certificate census. The $4,491,113,822.42 figure remains an obligation stock on USAspending.gov. Modifications that cut a class year will lower the running total without publishing a wash-out rate on this hub. Open award rows for syllabus and location detail the NAICS rollup does not publish. Neighboring 6115 technical-training lines stay on their own pages unless those awards were tagged 611512. Simulator hours billed under a 611512 schoolhouse still sit in $4,491,113,822.42; airframe manufacturing tagged 336411 does not. The 1,181 awards remain an action count, not a student-pilot census. Keep the education-services tag separate from 488190 airport support.

Questions

How much has the federal government obligated under NAICS 611512?

USAspending.gov contract aggregates on SpendingVault show $4,491,113,822.42 in obligations across 1,181 awards tagged flight training. The number is obligations, not outlays. Assistance education awards without NAICS are omitted. It is not aircraft manufacturing, not an FAA school roster, and not an FEC “pilot” string.

Does this include buying training aircraft?

Aircraft manufacturing uses NAICS 336411 and related 3364 lines. A manufacturing-coded buy will not add to the $4,491,113,822.42 total. The 1,181 awards are the flight-training contract tag from USAspending.gov via SpendingVault. Simulator or airframe components tagged as manufacturing stay on those industry pages.

Are these figures tuition outlays?

No. They are obligations: legally binding commitments on contract actions. Outlays are payments for instruction delivered and are not this $4,491,113,822.42 rollup. A multi-year pipeline can obligate a large amount while sorties are billed later. SpendingVault cites USAspending.gov contract NAICS for the 1,181 awards.

Why might GI Bill or NASA education funding be missing?

Those streams are often assistance awards. Assistance often has no NAICS, so it does not add to the 1,181 contract awards or $4,491,113,822.42. Open program pages for grant and benefit activity. This industry page reports only contract actions tagged 611512 in USAspending.gov.