Permanent home of airport employees

Many professions in the aviation industry are subject to the requirement that the employee must live within one hour’s travel time from the airport. This requirement applies, in particular, to operational professions (47.1% of the working population) and flight crew/cabin crew (23.8%). This also helps to explain the striking geographic concentration of employees, who work at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, around Amsterdam and (mainly) around cities with a reliable and fast road or rail connection to the airport.

Figuur 13 arbeidsmarktanalyse sectorplan luchtvaart
Figure 13: Permanent home of employees working at Schiphol. Source: Regioplan Beleidsonderzoek BV (2013)

Figure 13 shows that airport employees are chiefly, but not only, resident in the vicinity of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. However, Schiphol is increasingly being forced to recruit new personnel from remote regions, as show in Table 13. 

Distance to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 2006200820102013
Employees living at a 0-10 km commuting distance%3,9%5,6%6,2%6,1%
Employees living at a 10-25 km commuting distance%38,0%39,1%36,6%36,3%
Employees living at a commuting distance greater than 25 km %%58,1%55,3%57,2%57,6%
Average commuting distance to Amsterdam Airport Schipholkm23,837,738,539,4
Job growth at Schiphol compared to the previous reference year%6,93%4,46%-7,89%7,92%
Table 13: The commuting distance of Schiphol employees in the 2006-2013 period. Sources: SOAB Breda and Regioplan. Adapted by: Programmabureau Luchtvaart BV.  The table shows a marked increase in the average commuting distance of Schiphol employees between 2006 and 2008. In 2010, the average commuting distance levelled off following a decline in air transport movements and jobs at Schiphol, caused by the temporary introduction of the air travel tax. Since 2010, employment has bounced back and the average commuting distance has increased. This issue will become more critical as the aviation industry continues to develop in the near future.