PDX is its own city – and it takes nearly 10,000 people to run it

PDX may be the best airport in the country, but it’s so much more than a place to catch a flight. Covering more than 3,000 acres, Portland International Airport airport is its own bustling city, with roads and neighborhoods, shops, and services, and nearly 10,000 people who bring it all to life.

Imagine almost any job, and you can find someone at PDX doing it: from shuttle bus drivers to engineers, firefighters to electricians, landscapers to baggage handlers. With 400 flights per day on average (500 at peak times), PDX requires a cast of thousands to get almost 18 million travelers where they need to go each year. The PDX workforce is what also makes it possible for the airport to serve as an essential transportation hub that keeps people, goods, and our region connected.

The jobs created by PDX help support workers, their families, and their communities with $732 million in wages and benefits each year, according to a 2023 Steer economic impact report (PDF). Overall, PDX operations generate $1.2 billion in wages and benefits and $1.7 billion of gross regional product to the region’s economy.

(And those 10,000 jobs at PDX are part of an even bigger job universe: The Port supports nearly 100,000 jobs through visitor impacts, PDX, the Hillsboro and Troutdale airports, our three active marine terminals, and our six business parks combined.)

Powering every part of PDX

The PDX workforce powers every part of the airport, from the parking lots to the concourses, and security checkpoints to the runways. It includes people employed directly by the Port as well as all of the local shops and restaurants inside PDX, the airlines, the service providers that contract with the Port and airlines, and the federal government, among other employers. Among those 10,000 people are thousands of workers that travelers see – and thousands they may not.

Imagine stepping into PDX for your next flight. Before you even reach your gate, you could cross paths with half a dozen people performing jobs created by PDX: the parking shuttle driver who takes you to the terminal, the custodian tidying up the bathroom, the airline agent who tags your bag, the TSA officer who checks your ID, the barista who serves you coffee, and the store manager who helps you pick out the perfect Portland-made gift.

Behind the scenes at PDX, people are hard at work in roles you might not always see but are equally essential: crews maintaining the roads; aircraft cabin cleaners working through the night to prepare planes. Police officers and firefighters keeping visitors and workers safe; courier company employees ensuring packages travel through PDX efficiently; and engineers and planners designing the future of PDX, to name just a few.

And with the opening of the new main terminal, the PDX workforce continues to grow, with more workers joining ongoing construction projects, caring for the live trees, staffing new locally owned shops, and preparing and serving food in new restaurants.

All of these employees are essential to making the PDX experience uniquely PDX.

Creating jobs and business opportunities 

The jobs created at and around PDX, and the people behind them, are one of the important ways the Port drives our region’s economy, creating real opportunities for work, growth, and connection.

For local food or retail business owners who want to expand and set up shop at PDX, we’ve created pathways to make that easier. Port-wide, we’ve committed to awarding 20% of Port contracts to small businesses. If a worker gets laid off from an employer at the airport, we’ve made it easier for them to find a new position. Our agreements with employers require that when hiring for new positions, they make a good-faith effort to hire from our PDX labor pool first, with incentives for both the employee and the hiring company.