ABSTRACT
In early 2020 the novel human coronavirus disease 2019 spread throughout the world, and countries started closing borders and restricting travel. The history of the aerospace industry has been a saga of continuing adjustment to changing national policy and economic conditions. The aerospace industry is composed of about 60 major firms operating some 1,000 facilities, backed by thousands of subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers. Aerospace products perform very sophisticated functions and are complex and costly to manufacture. Despite growing percentages of nongovernment and nonaerospace business, industry activity is still dominated by government contracts with the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; a factor that has important effects on the industry's economic status. The United States, traditionally, has been the largest market outside of the former Soviet Union for commercial transports, helicopters, and general aviation aircraft. Continued market leadership of US aircraft manufacturers is closely tied to the existence of healthy, profitable US airlines.
