Chicago Rockford International Airport generates $4.7 billion in 2020 in economic impact

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Chicago Rockford International Airport’s expansion over the years is not only creating jobs, but it’s having one of the biggest economic impacts in the state.

According to the 2020 Illinois aviation economic impact analysis, RFD generated $4.7 billion in economic impact. That’s third-most behind Chicago’s midway and O’Hare. The study looked at 85 public use airports using data from 2019. The study revealed that RFD created 21,476 jobs. A big leap up compared to the last EIA report in 2012, which revealed that RFD created fewer than 5,500 jobs and only $1 billion in economic impact at that time.

“Just kind of shows the growth of the airport and the region over the last decade. The events and the tenants that have grown with AAR, and Amazon, and UPS, all of those growing, as well as our small businesses on the airport as well doubling and tripling in size of the last decade,” RFD Deputy Director of Operations and Planning Zack Oakley says.

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